Dr. Nurlan Onzhanov introduced to the Bundestag
Wednesday, 24 May 2023, Berlin, Germany: Kazakhstan’s Ambassador in Germany, Dr. Nurlan Onzhanov was welcomed for a tête-à-tête by the Speaker of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag), Bärbel Bas, a top politician from the Social Democratic Party. Speaker Bas is in office since 26 October 2021, and joined the Bundestag back in 2009.
Parliamentary diplomacy is an important component of an embassy’s mission in a given foreign country. Germany maintains a bilateral parliamentary system, with a Bundestag elected directly by the electorate as well as one upper chamber representing the German federal states, or Länder. Whereas Kazakhstan is home to a bicameral legislature, namely a lower house (i.e., the Mazhilis), with 107 seats, (98 seats are from party lists, 9 hailing from the Assembly of People, a representation of the various ethnic groups of Kazakhstan) which are elected to five-year terms. The upper house is the Senate, which has 47 members.
Dr. Onzhanov is head of mission in Germany since 18 July 2022 upon his presentations of credentials before Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Ambassador Onzhanov (b. 25 November 1960) began his career at Almaty Pedagogical Institute for Foreign Languages in 1983. He has been posted throughout his career in Austria, Switzerland or in Frankfurt am Main serving as Consul General. He is rather well-acquainted to Germany having served already a term as ambassador in the country between 2008 and 2014 with a concurrency to the Kingdom of Denmark.
Before arriving in Berlin, Onzhanov was Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan between 2019 and 2022. He holds extensive experience working within the presidential administration.
Ambassador Onzhanov speaks fluent Kazakh, German, Russian and English.
For further information
Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan: http://www.parlam.kz/en/mazhilis
Embassy of Kazakhstan in Germany: https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa-berlin/about/structure/people/26558?lang=en
