European parliament resolution urges deeper ties with Central Asia 

The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a resolution calling for “a complete rethink” of the EU’s Central Asia strategy towards “a more active” presence in the region in view of the recent global and regional changes.  

Central Asia is “of strategic interest to the EU in terms of security and connectivity as well as energy and resource diversification, conflict resolution and the defence of the multilateral rules-based international order,” the resolution said.  

It said a new approach was needed in order to strengthen the EU’s trade routes through Central Asia bypassing Russia, given the EU’s enlargement plans in Eastern Europe and China’s growing influence in the region. 

The resolution said that Russia’s weakened position in the region opened “a window of opportunity” for the EU to offer the Central Asian governments “a partnership that can become a special track in a broader strategy towards the EU’s Eastern neighbours”. 

The document noted that none of the Central Asian countries supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and did not recognise Ukraine’s separatist regions. 

It also noted Russian officials and propagandists continued “aggressive rhetoric” against Kazakhstan, questioning its territorial integrity and national identity.  

The resolution called for working with the Central Asian nations towards “long-term, structured and mutually beneficial cooperation in matters of common interest”. 

It said there was a “great potential” for beneficial cooperation with Central Asia on sustainable development, connectivity, energy, critical raw materials and security. 

It urged the European Commission to consider possible European Investment Bank support for investments in infrastructure development in Central Asia, especially towards developing the Middle Corridor transport route. 

It said that the EU should seek “secure and competitive access to raw materials and energy” in the region, while helping the regional countries to get access to modern technologies and quality jobs, and also to transition to green technologies.  

The resolution also said that the EU’s assistance and investment should be made visible and should be “linked to concrete benchmarks for progress on democratic reforms, human rights, protection, the rule of law and sustainable development”. 

It particularly mentioned the lack of government accountability over “serious human rights violations” during and in the aftermath of the January 2022 unrest in Kazakhstan; in the Tajik government’s crackdown on protests in the Upper Badakhshan region in 2021 and 2022; and in the Uzbek government’s suppression of the July 2022 protests in Karakalpakstan region. 

It also mentioned “rampant corruption and kleptocracy” in the region, as well as “grounded fears” of radicalisation, growing extremism and a terrorist threat, because of “a very high number of former ISIS fighters returning to the region and a dire security situation in Afghanistan”. 

As part of the new strategy, the EU and Central Asia are planning to hold their first summit in 2024, according to the document. 

The European Commission has also been recommended to start working with the Central Asian states on a roadmap towards visa liberalisation agreements between them and the EU. 

In November, the UK parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee published a report urging the government to boost ties with Central Asia, describing it as a geopolitical necessity.  

It called for “a considerably bolder and more ambitious” engagement with the region in response to “the manoeuvring of Russia, China and others”.  

Responding to the EU parliament’s resolution, Kazakh MP Aidos Sarym said that the call for better ties with Central Asia was “welcome”. 

However, he went on, “we cannot agree with it on the issue of [the existence of] ‘political repression’ and ‘political prisoners’ [in Kazakhstan]”.  

“There is not a single regulation, or law in Kazakhstan that would allow our citizens to be persecuted for their political views,” he said in a post on his Telegram channel.

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