State visit to Kazakhstan: the king's 14 steps

In a yurt set up at the National Museum of Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev receives King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. Astana, October 13, 2026.

It is almost 8:30 p.m. on October 11, 2026, when the plane lands in Astana. On the tarmac, under the spotlights, a guard of honor, the presidential orchestra and President Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev himself await King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. In the airport lounge, the king says it straight away: he wants to see as much of the country as possible in three days. His hosts will take him at his word. Fourteen stages await him, from a presidential palace to a yurt, from Astana to the mountains of Almaty. For the first Belgian state visit to Central Asia, Kazakhstan told its past, its present and its future, and added a piece of Belgium to each chapter.

Roadbook, step by step.

Arrival at night at Astana airport: the king and queen get off the plane in front of the guard of honor. October 11, 2026.

Astana, Monday October 12: place of honor

Step 1 · Welcome to Akorda

From behind on the Akorda esplanade, President Tokayev, the king and the queen watch two helicopters flying by in the colors of their countries. In the distance, the Baïterek tower.

Eleven o’clock, in front of the newly renovated presidential palace. The president waits for his guests outside, in front of the facade. Hymns, guard of honor, presentation of delegations. Then two helicopters cross the sky: one carries the Belgian flag, the other the Kazakh flag. In the photo published by the Royal Palace, we can already see, on the horizon, the silhouette of the next stage.

Step 2 · Interviews

President Tokayev welcomes the king and queen to the salons of the Akorda.

The two heads of state speak first in a small group, in the Eastern Room, then with the delegations. They adopt a joint declaration in nineteen points. The king includes a thank you note that says a lot about the visit: “Mr. President, I know that you have adapted your schedule to devote time to us and accompany us. We are deeply touched by this. » In front of the press, he then tried his hand at Kazakh, with a wish: “Шаңырағыңыз биік болсын”, that your shanyrak remains high. And he adds, smiling, that he hopes he pronounced it correctly.

Step 3 · Lunch

Queen Mathilde at the official lunch offered at the Akorda.

After the traditional exchange of gifts, the royal couple sits down to eat with the president at the palace. The menu has not been made public. This is the first of two meals that guests will share with their host that day.

Step 4 · Baiterek Tower

The queen, in a red coat and hat, and the king, from behind, facing the Baiterek tower.

A quick stop in front of the monument that every Kazakh recognizes: a 105-meter white trunk which bears a golden sphere. It is inspired by a nomadic legend, that of the Samruk bird which lays a golden egg in the branches of the tree of life. The Royal Palace sees both the country’s traditions and its renewal. A capital built in less than thirty years has given itself a very ancient history as its signal.

Step 5 · The National Children’s Rehabilitation Center

Queen Mathilde talks to a child and her mother at the National Children's Rehabilitation Centre.

First stop outside the palace, National Center for Children’s Rehabilitation, located in Astana.

The center practices speech therapy, Montessori pedagogy and robotics; devices there help children learn to walk again. The place was not chosen at random: the queen studied speech therapy. She takes the time to speak at length with several children and their parents. The president accompanies them.

Step 6 · Dinner at the “Reception House”

The King and Queen arrive at the dinner hosted by President Tokayev at the Reception House. The queen wears an Elie Saab embroidered cape.

In the evening, the president hosts dinner at the Reception House, the state reception house. According to Wim Dehandschutter, specialist in royalty at the Flemish daily HLN, the evening is held without anthems or speeches; sturgeon and veal are on the menu, and the music features Angèle, Jacques Brel and Hans Zimmer, the king’s favorite composer. The queen wears a cape and an Elie Saab jumpsuit, with earrings from the Kazakh house Saltanat. At the same time, in Brussels, the Kazakh flag flies for the first time on the Grand Place, for the visit and for the 35th anniversary of independence.

“I know that you have adapted your schedule to make time for us and support us. » King Philippe to President Tokaïev, October 12, 2026.

Astana, Tuesday October 13: from the yurt to the metals of tomorrow

Step 7 · The National Museum

A painting by James Ensor, crowd of masks and colors, in the exhibition organized at the National Museum for the state visit.

The president guides his guests through the history, culture and traditions of the country, even to a yurt set up in the middle of the museum. Above the heads, the red wooden trellis converges towards the shanyrak, the crown which closes the top of the tent, through which the light enters. It designates the house and the family, and appears on the country’s coat of arms: the vow pronounced the day before by the king takes on its full meaning here.

Then the route changes continent. The James Ensor exhibition, specifies the Royal Palace, was organized especially for the state visit and will remain open to the public for three months. According to Tengrinews, around forty paintings, loaned from a private collection. The mask painter of Ostend, in the heart of the museum which tells the story of the steppe: the guest discovers a room which speaks of his home.

Step 8 · Nazarbayev University

The King and Queen at the Critical Raw Materials Roundtable, Nazarbayev University.

The future starts from underground. Around a table decorated with flowers, the two countries talk about critical raw materials, the metals on which batteries and electronics depend. The Royal Palace summarizes the exchange in one sentence: Kazakhstan has significant reserves, Belgium knows how to transform, refine and recycle them. Two halves of the same chain, sitting face to face.

Step 9 · The Business Council

King Philippe addresses the fourth Kazakh-Belgian Business Council.

Fourth edition of the Business Council, in front of a delegation of twenty-five business leaders. Trade between the two countries increased from 220 million euros in 2016 to 765 million in 2025. The king talks about industry, logistics, and even tourism.

Step 10 · Alem.ai and the rectors’ forum

The king and queen welcomed by robots at the Alem.ai center.

Kazakhstan has made 2026 its Year of Artificial Intelligence. At the Alem.ai center, robots welcome the royal couple. The rectors’ forum then brings together the universities of the two countries around AI in teaching and research. According to Qazinform, Ghent University offers a telescope there.

Step 11 · The Belgian reception

In the evening, the roles are reversed. For the only time during the stay, it is the guests who receive. For one evening, Belgium responds to three days of hospitality.

Almaty, Wednesday October 14: heading south

Step 12 · The Institute of Nuclear Physics

Working session at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Almaty, under the flags of Kazakhstan and Belgium.

The delegation flies to Almaty, the country’s largest city and former capital, where the mayor, Darkhan Satybaldy, welcomes it. At the Institute of Nuclear Physics, the king and queen are presented with a cyclotron used in medical imaging. It was manufactured by IBA, a Belgian company from Louvain-la-Neuve. The future that the country shows its guests contains a machine from home. The king knows this side of Kazakhstan: crown prince, he came in 2002 and 2009 for the two space missions of Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne.

Stage 13 · Haragun Country

From advanced technology to age-old traditions, sums up the Royal Palace. In this equestrian estate near Almaty, the royal couple lunch in front of a traditional show, discover horses and a yurt, then try their hand at archery. The queen shoots first; the king takes his turn, guided by an instructor. The nomadic past, seen the day before at the museum, is practiced here in the open air.

Step 14 · The Almaty Museum of Arts

The King and Queen attend the 'Clay Bodies' performance at the Almaty Museum of Arts.

The program could have ended in the yurt. It ends in a one-year museum. Opened in September 2025, the Almaty Museum of Arts is Kazakhstan’s first museum of modern and contemporary art. On this day, it remains closed to the public until 5 p.m. The royal couple sees Clay Bodies, a performance by choreographer Ula Sickle, trained in Belgium, presented with KANAL-Centre Pompidou, in Brussels. The last image left to the guests is a contemporary scene, shared with their country.

Qonaqtar, the guests

Reread step by step, the program follows a thread. The State presents itself first, with its honors, its capital and its children. The past comes next, in a museum where Belgium has its room. The future occupies the rest: metals, artificial intelligence, a cyclotron in Louvain-la-Neuve. The steppe only returns at the end, time for lunch and a few arrows.

The Almaty Museum of Arts had opened, a year earlier, with an exhibition drawn from its collections. Its title: Qonaqtar. In Kazakh, the word means “guests”. In Astana, the king pronounced the root when saluting the country’s hospitality: қонақжайлылық.

Sources and credits

Institutional sources

Royal Palace of Belgium, account publications from October 11 to 14, 2026: [publication links to insert]
Belgian monarchy, visit agenda: [monarchie.be link to insert]
Akorda (presidency of Kazakhstan), welcome at the airport, October 11, 2026, relayed by 24.kz:

link * Akorda, interviews in restricted format, October 12, 2026, relayed by 24.kz:

link * Akorda, statement by the president to the press, October 12, 2026, relayed by Trend:

link * Akorda, original text of the interviews and joint statement: [akorda.kz links to be inserted from the documentary file] * FPS Foreign Affairs of Belgium, program and exchange figures, October 9, 2026: [diplomatie.belgium.be link to insert]

Agencies and press

Qazinform, “King and Queen of the Belgians to visit Astana, Almaty on 14-event program”, October 2026:

link * Qazinform, live monitoring of the visit, October 12, 2026:

link * Kursiv, “From horses to nuclear physics: Belgian royals tour Almaty”, October 15, 2026:

link * Tengrinews, exhibition James Ensor and the king’s wish in Kazakh, October 2026: [link to insert from the documentary file] * Time.kz, ceremony at Akorda, October 2026: [link to be inserted from the documentary file] * La Libre Belgique, arrival of the royal couple, October 11, 2026:

link * Paris Match Belgium, “Heading for Kazakhstan”, October 6, 2026:

lien * Paris Match Belgium, visit to the rehabilitation center, October 12, 2026:

link * Paris Match Belgium, robots at the artificial intelligence center, October 13, 2026: [link to insert] * HLN, Wim Dehandschutter, format, menu and music of the dinner, October 2026: [link to insert, paid article] * Gazet van Antwerpen, trade figures, October 2026: [link to insert] * Travel Tomorrow, review of the visit, October 2026:

link * Hello!, state dinner and words from the king in Kazakh, October 2026:

link * Hola!, archery in Almaty, October 15, 2026:

link

Specialized sources

Ocula, “Almaty Museum of Arts Opens as Central Asia Embraces Contemporary Art”, September 15, 2025: