EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of the Central Asian countries agreed on Tuesday 4 October that the upcoming revision of the EU’s Central Asia strategy in 2017 will allow “more result-oriented” cooperation, combining bilateral and regional approaches, said the European External Action Service (EEAS) in a press release following the 12th EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting.
The EU will provide financial support of €1 billion for Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) over the period from 2014 to 2020.
Regretting that “there is so much untapped potential for increased connections, whether through investment or trade, infrastructure or people to people contacts between our citizens”, Mogherini pointed out that cooperation between the EU and the countries of Central Asia already covers many areas. “We will step up our efforts to work together to focus more on economic stability and growth”, said Development Commissioner Neven Mimica. Common threats and challenges, stability and migration were also at the heart of discussions in the meeting.
According to the EEAS, the high representative and the ministers of the Central Asian countries agreed that “in today’s complex international environment, it is important to strengthen the resilience of societies through good governance, including the protection of human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, as well as by building democratic societies”. These countries are often criticised for their records on human rights. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)