Nur-Sultan conference ‘happily coincides’ with Central Asia summit

The first day of the conference was marked by the official launch of three EU-funded ambitious multi-year programmes with a total amount of EUR 28 million, that aim to support trade, rule of law as well as investments and growth in Central Asia. A two-day conference on “Enhanced integration and Prosperity in Central Asia” opened in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan on Thursday (28 November), coinciding with a summit of the leaders of the five Central Asian countries on Friday in Tashkent, the capital of neighbouring Uzbekistan. The conference in Nur-Sultan was organised by the EU delegation in Kazakhstan and had in its title the keyword “integration” – not exactly to the taste of all countries of the region, which prefer the less binding term “cooperation”. The five countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – are all former Soviet republics but each followed its own path after the collapse of the USSR. In 2018, a rather discrete but very important Central Asia summit was held in Astana, as the Kazakh capital was called then.  The summit in Tashkent is labeled as a “Consultative meeting” of the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan, the country with the largest population of the five, became key for the start of regional cooperation after the death of its first leader Islam Karimov in 2016. His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has been pursuing a less autocratic path, seeking to reform and liberalise the country and mend ties in the region. It was him who initiated in 2017 the idea of holding regular meetings of the presidents of the Central Asian countries. Turkmenistan, the most authoritarian country of the region, and the most suspicious of Western influence, has as policy not to join any organisations except the UN. Its president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov did not attend the Astana summit but did confirm attendance in Tashkent. The EU, but also other organisations such as the OECD, see a lot of value in Central Asian cooperation. The reason is simple: separately, the countries are less attractive for investors while together they could represent a sizeable market, as well as a zone of  prosperity and geopolitical stability. Central Asia has a total population of about 72 million, of which Kazakhstan has 18 million, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan six million apiece, Tajikistan nine million and Uzbekistan 33 million people. Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan all border Afghanistan and the positive influence of such culturally close neighbours could be of utmost importance in overcoming decades of war and violence in Afghanistan. The EU has no geopolitical plans in the region and in no way wants to lead the integration of the Central Asian countries. EU relations in the region are at different degrees and, in fact, the EU is not represented at the Tashkent summit. The EU is not spending big on Central Asia, but apparently its contributions are more than welcome, also because they bring a “label” in terms of EU-compatibility, which is precious for building international trust.

As an example, the Rule of Law programme signed in Nur-Sultan on Thursday has a goal to create “a common legal space” between Europe and Central Asia, enhance human rights protection, provide support for anti-corruption compliance practices, promote transparency and action against economic crime and train law enforcement officials.