The Kandelaki scandal poses an awkward question for Kazakhstan

Astana is not ready to forgive the TV presenter for her words about railway stations

The recent scandal between Russian TV presenter Tina Kandelaki and the Kazakh leadership again brought to the fore the situation with the Russian language in the country. The presenter compared linguistic oppression in the country with the situation in the Baltic states. In response, they threatened her with a ban on entry into Kazakhstan, but, however, then they doubted that the TV presenter herself would want to come. “MK” figured out how far Astana has gone from the Baltic countries, known for their Russophobic policies.

It all started when Tina Kandelaki was outraged by the intention of the Kazakh authorities to rename several railway stations. The TV presenter saw this as an attempt to “slowly but surely” displace the Russian language at the state level.

“As the Baltic experience shows, this is a very dangerous trend. Here, too, it all started small, and then turned into a real snowball: Russian schools were closed, Soviet monuments were removed, the Russian language was banned, and, finally, pensioners were kicked out into the cold,” she wrote.

Kazakhstanis greeted Kandelaki’s statement without enthusiasm. “Let us decide for ourselves what railway station to call,” noted Kazakh journalist and blogger Dinara Satzhan. At the same time, the country’s Foreign Ministry considered the Russian TV presenter an undesirable person in the country and banned her entry. “The state will never forgive this. Perhaps she is not going to Kazakhstan, but if she decides to come, she will not be allowed in,” said the representative of the country’s Foreign Ministry, Aibek Smadiyarov.

The Russian leadership has accumulated a lot of complaints about the language policy of Kazakhstan. This is the widespread practice of so-called language patrols, the country’s desire to switch to the Latin alphabet, and the general reduction in Russian-language schools.

Baltnews editor-in-chief Andrei Starikov told MK about whether Kazakhstan will be like the Baltic states, and whether they can be compared at all:

– The situation is completely different. Kazakhstan is implementing its national policy, which may not always be clear to us. Take, for example, the periodically appearing news that Kazakhstan is ready to join Western sanctions against Russia. The matter has not yet gone beyond words. There are real allied relations between the countries. We are connected by a number of strong formats, including the CSTO and the EAEU. The situation in the Baltic states is completely different.

— What is the main difference?

— The Baltic states officially identify Russia as the main threat. The Baltic states are preparing to fight with us and are provoking conflict. Plus, she is a member of the North Atlantic Alliance. Even this is a big difference. If Kazakhstan and Russia are allies within the CSTO, then the Baltic states are a member of the enemy NATO.

In the gallery of Baltic heroes, “forest brothers” and Nazi collaborators prevail. In Kazakhstan, they honor the memory of the Great Patriotic War and preserve history. Russia has many joint events with Kazakhstan on the topic of the Great Patriotic War, and they take place regularly.

In addition, the Kazakh authorities condemned the language patrols and rebuffed them. That is, the Russian side paid attention to this, and Astana heard this call.

If we talk about Kandelaki, then most likely the story is more emotional. I am confident that the situation will be smoothed out. We should not forget that Kazakhstan is implementing a multi-vector policy without abandoning its alliance with us.