On Monday 17 July, Uzbekistan's foreign minister, Abdulaziz Kamilov, called for his country's partnership agreement and cooperation with the EU to be updated. The agreement dates back to 1996.
"It is crucial to have a new agreement that is more extensive, not only because the world has changed [since 1996] but also because we must know what direction we are going in and what our relationship should be like in the future", he said at a press conference after the 13th EU-Uzbekistan Cooperation Council. He added that the new agreement would be "nothing new or extraordinary, but the renewal of the agreement must be signed".
During the Cooperation Council, the EU and Uzbekistan discussed the "positive development" of their bilateral relations "including political, judicial and economic reforms, the rule of law, trade, investment, energy relations and international challenges", according to an EU Council press release. The two parties also discussed good governance, cooperation with civil society and human rights issues, and affirmed the importance of regional cooperation and dialogue.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the EU and Uzbekistan signed a financing agreement for a horticulture project. The agreement provides for support of €21.5 million. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)