Posted on 04/02/2025 5:21:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The upcoming summit in Samarkand will bring together for the first time the leaders of the five Central Asian countries and the European Union.
Following years of reform and European assistance, the five Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - are embarking on a strategic pivot towards Europe.
The EU is seeking reliable partners in the current rapidly changing geopolitical reality. This is for political and also economic reasons, such as trade, investment and energy.
On Thursday and Friday, the Uzbek city of Samarkand will host the first-ever high level meeting between the EU and the Central Asian countries.
In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Uzbekistan's president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the summit's host, called the gathering a "historic chance" for the region.
He said that over the past seven years, trade turnover between Central Asian countries and the EU has quadrupled and now totals €54 billion.
Over 1,000 companies with European capital are already working in Uzbekistan with a joint investment project portfolio of €30 billion.
Speaking to Euronews, Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Edil Baisalov described it as "truly a historic moment for Central Asia."
"We've been independent for 34 years. We celebrated this as a new step," he said.
"Where the current world order is being shaken with these great tectonic shifts in geopolitics, we need reliable partners."
A major area of cooperation lies in the ongoing project to create a Green Strategic Corridor through the Caspian and Black Seas to Europe.
The implementation of this initiative will lay a solid foundation for what both sides are looking for; mutually beneficial energy connectivity.
“The EU is seeking reliable partners in the current rapidly changing geopolitical reality.”
No, the EU is seeking easily bought cannon fodder for their brewing conflict with Russia.
So, it will be Europeans and these people vs. jihadists?
They want the oil. It’s good if they can deprive China of it. China won’t like that.
Well, if I were the Europeans I would be very cautious about sending your fighting men out of the country.
The story is a bunch of baloney. $54 billion in trade... They have ten times the turnover with China and Russia.
Seeking trade with Europe isn’t the same as “pivoting”. If anything, these former Soviet satellites have been drifting into China’s sphere of influence. But they are wise to become economically dependent on any one partner, especially China or Russia...
True, but they often don't have much choice. Look at Armenia. They had no choice but to cozy up to Russia. Given where they are, no other country is going to help them. But now Russia prefers Azerbaijan, because of the oil, and their newfound ties to Muslims. But what choice do they have? It's not like the U.S. will help them.
The Central Asia countries mentioned in this article are in a tricky spot.
Yeah, Armenia is surrounded by bad choices. Russia, Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan.
The problem is Russia, Iran, Turkey have every reason to support Azerbaijan. They have no effective allies.
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