DUSHANBE, April 10, Asia-Plus — A two-day meeting between the European Union and the countries of Central Asia chaired by the current President of the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, began in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on April 9. The meeting was attended by representatives of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Davlat Nazriyev, the head of the information department of the Tajik MFA, said that yesterday was devoted to bilateral meetings and today is given over to a plenary meeting.
The central topic of all the bilateral meetings that were held on Wednesday was the deployment of the EU Strategy for Central Asia, a strategy paper adopted by the EU Council of Ministers in May last year.
The document underlines that the security and stability of Central Asia are of crucial importance to the European Union. It also deals with regional cooperation, enforcing human rights, the rule of law, the process of democratization, concern for youth and education, fostering economic development, trade and investment, links with the EU in the area of energy and transport, concern for environmental protection and conservation of water resources, combating common threats and challenges and building bridges between people (intercultural dialogue).
These issues were also raised during today’s meetings between the EU Troika and the representatives of all five Central Asian countries.
At the meeting with the representatives of Tajikistan, Dr Rupel highlighted the water supply issue. Tajikistan has the largest water reserves in Central Asia available and is therefore of particular strategic significance. Consequently, the European Union has proposed a number of water resource management projects, linked with environmental protection projects, for which it has earmarked considerable amounts of funding.
Dr. Dimitrij Rupel, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, and the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Pierre Morel made introductory remarks at today’s plenary session.
Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi has taken part in discussions on issues related to implementation of the EU Strategy for Central Asia in areas like education, providing supremacy of law, economy and commerce, energy and environmental protection, general threats and challenges, as well as border management and fight against drug trafficking.
Today, the meeting participants also attended the ceremony of opening of “Europe House” in Ashgabat, which hosted a conference on Caspian trends, organized by Institute for Strategic Studies, Ljubjana.
Tomorrow, Hamrokhon Zarifi, Bernard Kouchner and Pierre Morel will arrive in Dushanbe, where a two-day regional conference of France’s ambassadors to the CIS states will open.
