In 2022, relations between the European Union and the countries of Central Asia have strengthened significantly. This was especially evident in the increase in the number of visits by officials, including the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, and the EU's special representative for Central Asia, Teri Hakala. The latter twice met with the President of Kazakhstan Kasim-Zhomart Tokayev in face-to-face and online formats in February and July last year.
The first summit with the participation of the presidents of the countries of the region and the European Council, held on October 27 in Astana, became even more serious. In the Joint Press Statement adopted as a result of it, the participants, in particular, welcomed the institutionalization of relations between Central Asia and the EU within the framework of high-level platforms. They also noted positive results and the importance of further cooperation in various fields. After that, on November 17, the heads of foreign policy departments held the 18th ministerial meeting in Samarkand.
On the one hand, all this is happening within the framework of the implementation of the second strategy of the European Union in Central Asia, adopted in 2019 and aimed at the maximum promotion of the interests of a united Europe in the region. On the other hand, it is obvious that the factors of the processes and events taking place in Afghanistan and Ukraine play a role in its activity last year. Moreover, against this background, Brussels and the capitals of the Central Asian republics are equally interested in ensuring regional and economic security.
Afghan factor
It should be noted that one of the key mechanisms of EU-CA interaction is High-level dialogue on political and security issues with the participation of representatives of the leadership of the foreign policy departments of the parties. From 2013 to 2021, eight meetings of this dialogue platform were held. Moreover, since 2015, they began to be held on an annual basis and with the participation of an official representative of Afghanistan. Thus, the negotiation format actually acquired a tripartite character (EU-CA-IRA).
The eighth meeting of the High-Level Dialogue on Politics and Security was held on July 7, 2021 in Tashkent. It was attended by the Deputy Secretary General of the European External Relations Service, Enrique Mora, and the Vice Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan.
However, subsequent processes in Afghanistan, related to the withdrawal of US and NATO military contingents from that country and the restoration of the power of the Taliban movement, brought serious changes both to the European Union's policy towards Afghanistan and to the Afghan issue within the framework of EU-CA relations. It is possible that, taking this into account, the regular meeting of the High-Level Dialogue on Politics and Security was not held in 2022.
On the one hand, the EU does not officially recognize the Taliban government and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan created by them. In this connection, he reduced his diplomatic presence in this country. On the other hand, the European Union provides humanitarian aid to its population, providing 1 billion euros for this. It also demands that the Taliban respect human rights, especially women, children and minorities, form an inclusive government and prevent threats of international terrorism from Afghanistan.
In these conditions, the importance of the Central Asian countries as a link between Brussels and Kabul and partners in ensuring regional security has grown significantly. In addition, they, in addition to Tajikistan, have certain diplomatic contacts with the Taliban government.
Already at the 17th ministerial meeting "European Union - Central Asia", held on November 22, 2021 in Dushanbe, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stated that the situation in Afghanistan requires a new approach to regional security. According to the results of the meeting, its participants supported the EU's demands for the Taliban government, expressed general concern about the regional consequences of the events in this country and the intention to work together to eliminate them.
There is also an increase in the level of interaction between the EU's special envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas Nicklasson, and the officials of Central Asian countries. First of all, he and his local colleagues working in the Afghan direction held two meetings - on February 23 and May 31, 2022 in Tashkent and Almaty, respectively. The results of these meetings were joint statements on the situation in Afghanistan. In particular, according to the results of the Almaty meeting, its participants called on the Taliban movement to fulfill the commitments made to the Afghan people and the international community. Including preventing the use of the country's territory as a base for hosting, financing or exporting terrorism and violent extremism to other countries.
Taking everything into account, a new dialogue platform is being built within the framework of relations between the European Union and the countries of Central Asia, dedicated to discussing the development of the situation in Afghanistan and joint actions to respond to it. The next meeting of the special representatives of the EU and CA on Afghanistan will be held this year in Bishkek. Apparently, in connection with this, Niklasson visited Kyrgyzstan at the beginning of December last year, where he held meetings with the Secretary of the Security Council, Marat Imankulov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zheyanbek Kulubaev.
Ukrainian factor
The armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, and the resulting increase in sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation by the United States, Great Britain, and the European Union led to an increase in geopolitical tensions, which creates serious risks and challenges for the political, economic, and informational security of the countries of the Central of Asia The latter in these conditions try to adhere to the policy of neutrality and prevent themselves from being involved in the confrontation.
At the same time, the Central Asian countries, which are connected to varying degrees by their relations with Russia, are interested in avoiding a possible fall under direct or secondary sanctions. In this regard, each of the countries makes certain diplomatic efforts in the interests of maintaining constructive relations with all participants in the "sanctions war".
Kazakhstan demonstrates the greatest activity in this direction due to its firm commitment to the principle of multi-vectorism in its foreign policy. Thus, during the 11th meeting of the Cooperation Committee "Republic of Kazakhstan - European Union", held on March 31, 2022 in Brussels, the EU representatives who participated in it provided certain guarantees for the access of Kazakh products to the European market, and also assured preventing the application of sanctions against the country. All this is important for Kazakhstan, taking into account the fact that the export of the relevant goods is carried out mainly through the territory and sea ports of the Russian Federation.
As for the European Union, it seeks to strengthen its position in Central Asia against the background of Russia's preoccupation with the war with Ukraine. In this connection, he is especially interested in the expansion of the volume of exports of various goods to Europe by the countries of the region, bypassing Russia. This includes the development of the Trans-Caspian international transport route and various options for the supply of energy resources from the region. At the same time, of the Central Asian countries, only Kazakhstan uses TMTM, as evidenced by the increase in the volume of export transportation of domestic goods in 9 months of 2022. The republic is also ready to supply Europeans with at least 1,5 million tons of its oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline starting this year. However, the companies that will directly deal with this have not yet been determined.
In any case, there is a consistent increase in the level of interaction between the countries of Central Asia and the European Union. During the 18th ministerial meeting, Borrell offered to support the countries of the region "in the fight against the problem of disinformation, which seeks to undermine stability on the ground, in the information environment." It is obvious that in this case it is about ensuring information security.
At the same time, within the framework of its policy in Central Asia, the EU emphasizes financial instruments, including investments by European companies and donor support for the implementation of various socially significant projects. At the same time, it lacks political tools of influence here due to geographical remoteness and a huge difference in the directions and levels of socio-political development with the countries of the region. Another thing is that the Central Asian states themselves are very interested in expanding cooperation with the European Union, including with the aim of maintaining a foreign policy balance in relations with China and Russia.
