DUSHANBE, November 21, 2014, Asia-Plus – On Friday November 21, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received Ms. Iveta Grigule, the head of a delegation of the European Parliament for relations with Central Asia.
According to the Tajik president’s official website, the two discussed issues related to cooperation between Tajikistan and the European Union.
President Rahmon reportedly expressed satisfaction with the current level of cooperation between Tajikistan and the European Union and stressed that Tajikistan is a reliable partner of the European Union in the Central Asian region.
Expansion of ties with the European Union and its structures is one of priorities of Tajikistan’s foreign policy, Rahmon stressed.
In the course of the talks, Rahmon and Grigule also touched upon problems of development of democracy and civil society in Tajikistan, protection of human rights and freedoms, etc.
The delegation of the European Parliament for relations with Central Asia arrived in Tajikistan for a two-day visit on November 20.
Ms. Iveta Grigule is a Latvian politician for the Latvian Farmers” Union. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014 as the sole representative for the Union of Greens and Farmers.
The delegation evolved from the previous delegation for relations with member nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which established a working group for Central Asia in 1993. In 1994, a delegation for relations with Central Asia and Mongolia was constituted. Parliamentary Cooperation Committees (PCCs) have taken place on a regular basis with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan since 2000 and with Tajikistan since 2010. The PCCs are a key element of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (PCAs) which came into force on July 1, 1999 and with Tajikistan on January 1, 2010 and provide the framework for the relationship between the EU and the four countries.
