'More and more connected': EU Council chief pushes for stronger ties with Central Asia

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - European Council chief Charles Michel met Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Thursday for talks focused on enhancing the bloc’s ties with Central Asia.

“Central Asia and Europe are coming closer together and becoming more and more connected,” Michel said at a joint press conference in the Kazakh capital Astana.

He hailed Kazakhstan as a “crucial partner for the EU” and an “important player on the international stage and in the region.”

Michel and Tokayev are due to meet other regional leaders in Astana later for the first EU-Central Asia summit.

“Today’s meeting is much more than just a policy dialogue between two regions,” said the EU Council president.

“It’s a powerful symbol of our reinforced cooperation and a strong signal of the EU’s commitment to this region,” he added.

The EU’s outreach to Central Asia has been spurred by the Russia-Ukraine war and its wide-ranging geopolitical impact.

Michel and Tokayev emphasized the importance of “expanding existing and developing new international transport corridors between Europe and Central Asia to facilitate global production and supply chains,” according to a joint press statement issued by the EU Council.

“They also discussed the opportunities offered by the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and options for developing it further, and the role of other transport connections in the region,” read the statement.

On bilateral ties, they underlined the “high level and dynamic development of relations” over the past 30 years, agreeing to “further strengthen, deepen and expand the Kazakh-EU multifaceted cooperation in the years ahead.”

“Kazakhstan is the biggest EU trading partner in Central Asia … (and) also a regional transport connectivity hub between the East and the West,” Michel said at the news conference.

According to the press statement, the two sides will work on “further and full implementation of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Kazakhstan and the EU, the EU Strategy on Central Asia, as well as the new EU initiatives for Central Asia on connectivity and other sectors.”

The meeting also included discussions on regional and international issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.

“The parties underlined the importance of strengthening regional dialogue in Central Asia, which is a key to prosperity, resilience and further sustainable development of the region,” the statement added.

Kazakhstan and its capital have been a hub of political activity in recent weeks, hosting an array of international forums and summits that included Russia and countries outside of the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Astana two weeks ago for the first Central Asia-Russia summit, a meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, which was also attended by Türkiye and China.