The EU Special Representative for Central Asia, Ambassador Peter Burian, is expected to arrive in Tajikistan next week.
According to the Tajik MFA information department, Ambassador Burian is scheduled to hold talks with a number of high-ranking Tajik state officials to discuss cooperation between the European Union and Tajikistan.
Ambassador Peter Burian was appointed as the EU Special Representative for Central Asia on April 15, 2015. His responsibilities include promoting good and close relations between the Union and the countries of Central Asia. Prior to this appointment Ambassador Burian served from 2012 as State Secretary and First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
The European Union began its engagement with Tajikistan in the early 1990s, following the country's independence from the Soviet Union. In 1992, a TACIS program office was opened in Dushanbe. Due to the Tajik civil war, the program office was largely non-operational until 2000, when direct project funding began in earnest. In 2001, the first annual EU-Tajikistan Joint Committee meeting was held in Brussels. In 2004, Commissioner Patten visited Dushanbe, and a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) was signed by President Rahmon in Luxembourg; it entered into force following ratification in 2010.
EU-Tajikistan relations today are conducted within the framework of the EU Central Asia Strategy 2014-2020. Cooperation under the PCA is comprehensive and includes the facilitation of economic transition for Tajikistan, and the promotion of inclusive, sustainable human and economic development. The EU is assisting the government of Tajikistan with its structural reform process, notably through providing around one third of its assistance through budget support. The EU is also enhancing the capacity of civil society in the country, and does so in partnership with local and international NGOs.
