Russian Prez Oozes Pre-Election Praise for Kazakhstan’s Leader of the Nation

Despite Russia’s time-honored tradition of meddling in its neighbors' politics, one might have thought there wouldn’t be much point in seeking to influence an election with a foregone conclusion. Moscow knows different, though: It wasn’t going miss a chance to express a public view on Kazakhstan’s April 3 presidential vote, which incumbent leader Nursultan Nazarbayev is going to win hands down.

As Nazarbayev met his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on March 17, the Russian president was oozing praise for Kazakhstan’s Leader of the Nation and – reported Nazarbayev’s press service – “wished Nursultan Nazarbayev successful participation in the early presidential elections upcoming in Kazakhstan.” 

“We respect you very much, Nursultan Abishevich, as a friend of the Russian Federation,” Medvedev gushed in remarks quoted by Nazarbayev’s administration. “You have made a great contribution to the development of our relations. We very much wish you all kinds of success. And I hope that you and I will continue our close work in the coming years, too.”

You can’t get much clearer than that, but there was one thing omitted by Nazarbayev’s press service that was picked up by The Moscow Times: Medvedev’s remark that he knew his comments amounted to inappropriate interference in the internal affairs of another state.

“From the point of view of international politics, it is not completely ethical for the president of another country to comment on upcoming elections, but I will say a few words anyway,” The Moscow Times quoted Medvedev as saying.

It’s no surprise that Moscow seeks to flex its muscles over any election in what it considers its own backyard, but for the sake of decency, Medvedev might have preferred not to draw attention to that point.