DUSHANBE, July 3, Asia-Plus — The British Embassy in Dushanbe has, with effect from 1 July 2007, taken over the role of the local presidency of the European Union in Tajikistan, press released issued by the UK Embassy in Dushanbe said.
For the past year the German Embassy has acted for the presidency in Dushanbe. Each member state of the European Union takes a turn for six months at running the presidency of the Union and for the second half of 2007 this honor falls to Portugal. However, as the Portuguese do not have their own Embassy in Dushanbe they will be represented in their presidency capacity in Tajikistan by Great Britain.
“I am delighted to be taking on this role on behalf of our Portuguese friends” said Mr. Graeme Loten, the British Ambassador. “The European Union is showing a much greater interest in central Asia as was exemplified by the drawing up of our strategy for the region under the previous German presidency. We can expect more initiatives, more program and greater cooperation between the European Union and countries like Tajikistan in the future”.
The principle task of the local European Union presidency in Dushanbe is to represent EU policies with the Tajik authorities, issue joint EU statements and act as a conduit for messages between the Tajik government to the EU.
