The EU Special Representative for Central Asia, Terhi Hakala, is concluding her mission and visiting the countries of the region on a farewell tour.
During her visit to Uzbekistan, she gave an interview to Gazeta.uz in which she shared her thoughts on the most important issues on the agenda between the EU and Uzbekistan and the importance of unity among Central Asian countries.
Video
— In the beginning of our interview, I wanted to quote what you said back in July 2021, when you were appointed as the EU Special Representative for Central Asia. “The mandate of the EU Special Representative for Central Asia emphasizes the need to strengthen regional cooperation and stability in collaboration with the countries of the region and other international actors in the coming years. This will be even more important than before”. These words look like somehow prophetic to me. Did you expect so many challenges coming at you in that position?
— Yes and no. I think that’s the short answer because, of course we could predict that there will be some kind of a change in Afghanistan. We knew already that the coalition [USA and NATO] was withdrawing. Of course, we didn’t foresee how rapidly it will all change. It’s changed one month after I entered into this job. There have been other geopolitical changes like the war in Ukraine and other events in the region.
— What kind of results did you and your team achieve during almost four years?
— I think we have actually reached a lot despite the difficult years. You mentioned the importance of regional cooperation, and this has actually happened — the regional cooperation in Central Asia actually has increased. We have been able to also strengthen our cooperation and raise the level of cooperation between European Union and Central Asia up to the leaders level.
We have also had a ministerial meeting with European Union and Central Asian countries with 32 ministers in Luxembourg last year. We have created a new roadmap for our cooperation, which is supporting the implementation of EU-Central Asia Strategy.
We have been able to organize several regional events. My team has been instrumental in organizing the Civil Society Forum, the Economic Forum here in Tashkent, two forums on security and youth action on water. So many events have been taking place.
This cooperation, deep and close dialogue between EU and Central Asia has been a result of these past years.
Also, the European Union has introduced big programs and the Global Gateway Initiative. One is of course, on connectivity. We talk about connectivity nowadays a lot. Some Team Europe initiatives on green transition, green development like water, energy and digitalization.
— You mentioned the regional integration process in Central Asia and you said there was some good developments. What about now? Does it still have that momentum? Or does it look like it’s slowing down?
— I think it has the momentum. More than ever, I would say. Four years ago it was clear that we have to strengthen the region as a region. There were certain regional challenges, like the Kyrgyz-Tajik border disputes and other issues. But I would say that there is still a momentum more than ever because it’s not just empty talk that the region will be stronger if you work together. Be it economic development, political dialogue, connectivity, water resources, how to solve the kind of regional challenges — it is definitely important.
And I see also that during these past years presidents in the region have been very active. The consultative meetings of the leaders have been happening on a yearly basis. The interaction between the capitals on different levels, governments is happening. And there are plans for future. Treaty on friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation for the development of Central Asia was signed only by three countries. This is also an advancement, and the more you do, the more you see that it has benefits when the region is acting as one strong entity.
— And the experience of EU can serve as an example.
— Yes. The EU and then we have other regional arrangements or cooperation like the Visegrad countries, the Nordic, the Nordic-Baltic cooperation. You can always work with your neighbors. There is also healthy competition in all regions, this is clear. But when we have transboundary challenges, then we have to find transboundary solutions for those challenges and strengthen the networks, connectivity, trade, good neighborly relationships. This is the basic policy which should actually be on everybody’s minds: to have good neighborly relations with your neighbors.
— The first EU-Central Asia Summit was planned for 2024, but then it was rescheduled to the upcoming year. What were the reasons to postpone such a high level event?
— First of all, we all are very sorry that we had to postpone it, but unfortunately this year was quite challenging. We had the transition period in the European Union with the elections in the late spring. And then we’ve all witnessed the formation of the new commission.
It was unfortunate. It was a calendar issue. There’s nothing political in that. And we are very grateful for your president, your government extending the invitation to organize this first ever EU Central Asia Summit, as we call the full-fledged summit in Samarkand.
It will be quite an event. It will take place next year. Now when our new leaders in Brussels are in the office, they’ll check their calendars and they will definitely find a date for this meeting because it is very important. It also seals the high level dialog we have been developing these during these years.
And I also want to say that unfortunately, Central Asia was not the only region which suffered from this difficulty in the calendars and transition period in Brussels. It was many other regions who didn’t get the meetings they were so much hoping for.
— Is there a possibility that the long-awaited Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement will be signed during the upcoming summit or it will happen during the visit of president to Brussels?
— The Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement will be signed, of course. It’s also pending on the internal procedures in Brussels, our structures, the commission is working on it in good cooperation with the member states. We try to speed up with the processes, but the EU bureaucracy is quite heavy. So I cannot tell you today how the arrangement will be.
But we are very much hoping to see President Mirziyoyev in Brussels. It’s long overdue. We’ve all been waiting for that.
— What will be the main topics of the discussion for the 2025 summit?
— I think it will take all the issues on the agenda, which we have been working on. The agenda is about connectivity, security, political, geopolitical developments, climate change. But of course there will be several topics which will arise just before the meeting. And we are, of course, preparing for all of that.
But in general, it is about EU-Central Asia cooperation, how to develop that, how to strengthen that, how to widen the dialogue and be the best partners we’ve been for the past 30 years.
— You mentioned during the summit security topics will also be discussed, can you please clarify what kind of security? Food security, climate, political?
— Yes, security is a very wide topic. And this is part of my mandate and I have been dealing with security issues during my whole diplomatic career. So it’s very close to my heart.
Here in Central Asia we have had programs for years already which we have implemented concerning border security, law enforcement forces and reform and other kind of security topics which are very pertinent to this region.
And let’s face it now, in the current situation, when we know that Afghanistan will be a very challenging neighbor for Central Asian countries and also for the rest of the world. A border security and also the threats stemming from Afghanistan will be on the table definitely.
What can we do together? And these include, of course, cooperation in counter-terrorism, radicalization, extremism, all those topics which are very important for all of us and globally in the current situation. Mainly this, but also wider topics like climate change, water resilience and how to tackle those problems which are already looming in the horizon for Central Asia more and more.
— And when it comes to Afghanistan, will it also include the Afghan refugee issues?
— It will, definitely. And I know the Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan definitely is doing a lot to mitigate the risks. You have also been very much supporting the education of the girls and also Afghans alltogether. So it has been a great gesture your government has been offering and is doing in cooperation with your neighbor, which is, of course, a challenging task, which we absolutely appreciate.
— Your mission is coming to an end at the moment when relations between Uzbekistan on the EU are reaching highest levels of cooperation. This year EU and Uzbekistan signed MOU on launching strategic partnership on critical raw materials, and also EU stated that it’s working on connecting Uzbekistan to its satellite networks. What is the progress of these projects at the moment?
— Critical raw materials and access to them is very important. It is the topic of the day. We have been very glad that we signed agreement with Uzbekistan last spring. And now we are preparing a roadmap how to implement it. This is definitely an important step because for both of us it’s an important sector for cooperation for the future. And it’s linked to connectivity, because you also have to transport the goods to the European market.
The other one is the digitalization. This is part of the Team Europe initiatives under the Global Gateway Initiative, which we have launched in the region. We are discussing the issue of providing satellite Internet connections for all Central Asian countries in order to add to access to Internet, for instance, in remote places and remote regions. So that’s all people of Central Asia, Uzbekistan would have an access to digital services and also Internet.
From our side all the work is done. There’s a negotiation process with the European service provider and Uzbek government. I hope this can be also concluded as soon as possible and we can progress with that. I think this is an excellent project, especially for people who are not covered by cables or the Internet services which are already existing in the country and which in Uzbekistan are well advanced. I think this will be a good additional element in that.
— What about new large scale projects for the future cooperation?
— All in all, it is the connectivity. We’ve been talking about that for years, linking Central Asia with Europe more closely. And it is in a way now progressing in full speed.
In that sense the connectivity which we speak about is about Trans Caspian transport corridor. It’s not just one corridor from Central Asia to Europe through Caspian Sea, through South Caucasus, through Black Sea or Turkiye. It’s about network of logistics and transport routes in Central Asia, because we feel that by improving the connectivity between the five Central Asian countries, we also improve the regional cooperation we are so much talking about.
It is about connecting people, but also it is about trade, economic possibilities. According to all statistics, the intra regional trade is very small, so the volumes will increase by improving the transport logistics, the routes, the railroads and also taking some measures on the borders, on the regulations, the tariff systems inside the region and then linking that all to the networks through the South Caucasus and further on.
— And it will also help Uzbekistan to diversify its export routes?
— Absolutely. Uzbekistan is a double landlocked country, as we know. And you have big challenges, of course. And one corridor doesn’t exclude the other. We understand that there are other plans. And this is all good because I think that in today’s global world where we face challenges, if one route is blocked for one reason or another or face difficulties, then we have to have alternatives, especially in Central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan, where you don’t have access to sea. So it is of crucial importance to have all these opportunities. And we think now in the current situation it is important for the future to improve the links, to improve the options for connectivity to tie Central Asia, Uzbekistan to the European networks through South Caucasus.
— EU sanctions envoy Mr. David O’Sullivan has been actively visiting Central Asian countries in the last couple of years. In one of the meetings he made a joke, saying: “If I’m not coming to your country, then it’s a good thing, you should be happy that if I’m not there”. But I would still like to ask still, are there any new visits of the EU Special Envoy planned to Central Asia?
— Yes, there are. But I don’t think it’s bad news at all if he comes. David O’Sullivan is a very experienced EU diplomat and he’s definitely trying to be of assistance and help.
The sanctions are a very complicated issue. They were put in place because the European Union and other Western partners want to stop the war in Ukraine and definitely try to prevent Russia from circumventing the sanctions.
We have never asked Uzbekistan to align itself with our sanction policy. Not at all. We just want to prevent the circumvention of the sanctions, which will enable the warfare in Russia. We talk about so-called battlefield products and dual use goods.
And this is David O’Sullivan’s job to follow what is happening and try to prevent and mitigate the situation, what is still unfortunately going on. Uzbekistan is, of course, not the only country we have. He’s visiting all our partner countries and he is very much looking into the visits and in-depth dialogs here. We have a good cooperation going on with the Uzbek government. It has been in place from day one when the sanctions were introduced.
But it’s not bad news if he comes. I would say that it’s good news that the dialogue is going on and it’s on a positive track. So you should be looking forward to his visit.
— We will. From your perspective, how well is Uzbekistan and Central Asia doing in terms of that cooperation, in terms of not letting Russia to circumvent sanctions?
— You are doing a lot. We have to understand that in these kind of situations there are always people, companies who want to misuse because it’s big money, which is linked to technology for the battlefield.
We find them in all countries, to be honest. It doesn’t demand a lot of fantasy to understand that’s happening. But I think that Uzbekistan’s willingness to cooperate with the European Union is very important in this question. And definitely we have been happy with that cooperation. The other thing is that we have to just work closer together as we do with other Central Asian countries. It’s in the interest of the region also not to let use the territories or the countries to circumvent the sanctions.
Elina Sakaeva, Davlat Umarov.
