
The Foreign Ministers of the five Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - met with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini on 23 November 2018 in Brussels for the 14th EU-Central Asia Ministerial Meeting.
The participants discussed the key opportunities and challenges they are facing in Central Asia and the wider neighbourhood. They exchanged on the EU's new Strategy for Central Asia, which is currently being elaborated ahead of its expected launch in 2019.
The current EU Strategy for Central Asia, which was first adopted in 2007, encompasses the long-term commitment of the European Union to regional and bilateral cooperation with its Central Asian partners. The main goal of the EU Strategy is to increase the resilience of the region as a whole as well as the resilience of individual states. The Strategy lays the framework for regular political dialogue at ministerial level and enhanced cooperation in key initiatives, for example the rule of law, education, environment and water. Specific attention is devoted to the region’s security and stability, notably to common threats related to border management and drugs.
Assistance provided by the European Commission, combined with assistance provided by EU Member States individually, makes the European Union the number one donor in the region. The global envelope for EU assistance to Central Asia (through the Development Cooperation Instrument) rose to €1 billion for the period 2014-2020.
The Ministerial also provided a backdrop for several key announcements:
These positive developments are complemented by similar trends in other Central Asian countries:
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