Maroš Šefčovič, the vice-president of the European Commission (EC) for Interinstitutional Relations, is visiting Astana on June 1 and 2 and meeting with high-level officials in an effort to coordinate and strengthen the cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Kazakhstan. We reached him for an exclusive interview spanning partnerships in the mining and hydrocarbon sector to sanctions against Russia in the context of the war against Ukraine.