Abstract. The article analyzes the role of Kazakhstan in the Eurasian integration process. It examines in detail Kazakhstan’s participation in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and integration projects in Central Asia, prospects of linking  the EEU and the Kazakhstan project of Nurly Zhol to the Silk Road Economic belt. The author pays close attention to the EEU prospects, its relations with the European Union and states of the “distant abroad”.