President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon will visit Uzbekistan on April 3–4 to participate in the first-ever EU-Central Asia Summit, according to the Tajik president's official website.
As part of the event, which will be held in Samarkand under the motto “Investing in the Future,” several bilateral meetings are planned between the President of Tajikistan and other officials, the statement said.
During the summit, EU representatives are expected to reaffirm their interest in expanding cooperation with Central Asian countries, particularly in the areas of economy, security, and energy.
In recent years, EU–Central Asia relations have intensified significantly at the highest levels. In October 2022, a leaders’ meeting took place in Kazakhstan, followed by another in June 2023 in Kyrgyzstan. Several ministerial meetings have also been held, the most recent of which took place in Luxembourg in 2023, where a joint roadmap for strengthening ties between the EU and Central Asia was agreed upon.
The roadmap outlines specific steps to expand interregional dialogue, including a commitment to holding the summit.
On March 4, 2025, the 20th EU–Central Asia ministerial meeting was held in Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat, focusing on preparations for the summit.
The European Council says the first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on April 4, 2025.
The President of the European Council, António Costa, together with European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, will represent the EU. The meeting will be hosted by the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The summit is reportedly expected to be a key opportunity for the EU and Central Asia to demonstrate their geopolitical interest in intensifying bilateral relations and enhancing regional cooperation.
As identified in the goals of the 2019 EU strategy on Central Asia and the joint roadmap for deepening ties between the EU and Central Asia adopted in 2023, evolving relations between the EU and Central Asia have acquired increased strategic importance over the years.
In this context, during the summit the leaders will discuss areas of mutual cooperation such as: strengthening multilateral cooperation; addressing common security challenges; enhancing economic, trade and investment ties; engaging on energy, climate neutral economy and connectivity under the Global Gateway, and cooperating on the green transition; and bolstering people-to-people contacts and mobility.
The leaders are expected to issue a joint statement at the end of the summit.
Meanwhile, the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) calls on EU leaders to address pressing human rights concerns in discussions with their Central Asian counterparts. In a letter to European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, IPHR urged the EU to use this opportunity to call for concrete steps to counter the growing restrictions on civil society and fundamental freedoms in the region.
