In the past four months I lived and worked in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as a rector of New Economic University. There are several trends in Kazakhstan that should draw attention of EU decision-makers.

  • In Kazakhstan there is a strong downward trend in usage of alcohol and tobacco, and at the same time fertility rate is going up and number of people declaring that they actively participate in religious activities is going up. And the drop in tobacco/alcohol usage is not caused by high taxes, as in the case of Europe. The price of pack of cigarettes in 1 dollar, while in Europe in 5 or 10 times more. So people choose to quit smoking, and are not forced to do it by high taxes. In Europe  the role of church and family is being depreciated rapidly and as a consequence fertility rates are sinking, with exception of counties where immigrants make a difference. Well, in Brussels Mohamed is the most popular name given to newly born boy. Welcome to new, tolerant Europe. Now you can understand the results of recent elections in Denmark and other countries.

  • Homosexual activities are considered as sick by most people I talked to, while in Europe they are promoted as something better than then normal family.

  • In Kazakhstan we have more than 150 nationalities living together in peace. You can be part of any religion: Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox, Jew, … you can freely practice it. In Europe some religions are considered better than others, and the tolerance is understood in a pathological way.

  • During recent EFMD conference in Brussels I found that all universities struggle to promote women to top ranks. They make 20-40 percent of high ranked positions. I stood up and said that in our university in Kazakhstan all vice-rectors are women, 50 percent of deans are women, and 90 percent of chair heads are women.  In Kazakhstan society is dominated by men, and it has root in history and tradition. And despite this tradition our university has managed to promote women to top positions, which probably make us the most feminist university in the world.

I suggest to my European colleagues that they come to Kazakhstan to understand the positive societal trends that can be observed here. European model is faulty, and recent election choices suggest that European Union values imposed by Hollywood and banksters are causing a massive backlash among societies. Look at Kazakhstan experience to understand how you can make the EU survive.