DUSHANBE, September 2, 2011, Asia-Plus — During recent days Tajik media outlets reported about statements, which a representative of Bucharest based organization ”European Council on International Relations” (ECIR) made during a visit to Tajikistan.
The Delegation of the European Union in Tajikistan underlines that this is a private organization without links to EU institutions. “Its statements are made under its own responsibility and should in no way be interpreted as official EU positions,” press release issued by the Delegation of the European Union on September 2 said.
We will recall that Professor Anton Caragea, Director of the European Council on International Relations (ECIR), bestowed the Leader of XXI Century Award upon Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe on August 25. In the course of the talks that followed the award-presentation ceremony, the sides reportedly discussed a number of issues related to cooperation between Tajikistan and the European Community and problems facing the Central Asian region, the source said.
On its website, the ECIR is described as the leading European Union think tank. “The European Council on International Relations (E.U.C.I.R.) is dedicated to creation of a European common foreign policy. To this end E.U.C.I.R. is interested in cooperating and developing relation and sustained the activities of all the European forums, not only European Union but also non-European Union countries must have a voice in designing a European voice.”
The ECIR website notes that a session of the ECIR Academic Committee that took place on August 17 awarded “one of the highest European cultural and political distinctions to Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan.”
On the website, Professor Anton Caragea explained that the prize was bestowed upon Rahmon because of Tajikistan’s sustainable economic growth, his investment in the country”s health, environment, and education sector and his transformation of “Tajikistan into a secure state, with safe borders.”
