The European Union is expected to put human rights at the center of today's summit with leaders from Central Asia, writes the British newspaper "Guardian".
The EU is expected to discuss trade, security and energy issues with the leaders of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan at the meeting.
The President of the European Council Antonio Costa and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will meet today with the leaders of the Central Asian countries.
The meeting, which will be held in Samarkand, will be hosted by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. It is also expected to discuss climate change and counter-terrorism issues.
The relationship between the EU and the former Soviet republics has intensified since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, notes the "Guardian". The two countries have pledged to improve transport links through a project called the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, which aims to halve the time it takes to travel by land from the EU to Central Asia to no more than 15 days. The European Union is also hoping to approve a text on key raw materials that are abundant in the Central Asian region and that the EU needs for its green transition.
"Guardian" writes that according to a senior EU official, the meeting is of key importance and the Central Asian countries show "a corresponding desire to deepen their relations with the EU and diversify their foreign policy".
The British publication notes that before the meeting, one of the most complex issues - for the Central Asian countries, was how to mention the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the final declaration of the meeting. Kazakhstan, which was once one of Russia's closest allies, sends humanitarian aid to Ukraine, maintains contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and has banned the use of symbols of Russian military propaganda. However, Kazakhstan, along with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, abstained in a recent vote at the UN General Assembly on whether to call for a "peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine".
In addition, the European Parliament expressed concern that Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are allegedly hubs that allow Russia to circumvent Western sanctions, writes "The Guardian".
Amid shifting geopolitical alliances and the race for natural resources, human rights activists are calling on the EU not to neglect the issue of human rights.
"The Guardian" focuses on the words of Iskra Kirova of the NGO "Human Rights Watch", according to which these new partnerships are very important, but they will not be sustainable and will not guarantee the EU's interests if the EU does not pay attention to the rule of law in the region and the protection of human rights.
According to Kirova, the EU is not using the levers at its disposal convincingly enough. In front of the "Guardian", she questioned the comprehensive trade and cooperation agreement that the EU concluded with Kyrgyzstan in June last year after Bishkek adopted a Russian-style foreign agents law affecting NGOs that receive funding from abroad.
The European Union "does not insist on specific achievements before providing these types of direct benefits or bilateral agreements," the representative of "Human Rights Watch" also said to the British publication, referring to preferential trade agreements.
A senior EU official said that after EU intervention, Kyrgyz authorities had abandoned a plan to include criminal sanctions in the NGO bill, which he said was a "serious difference" from similar laws in Russia and Belarus.
"We are not going there to preach", said another European official, adding that "the more we have dialogue and interaction, the more we believe that we can change and improve the things that concern us".