Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Gabriel: The new roadmap between the EU and the Central Asian countries is a step forward in deepening relations
23 October 2023 News
Maria Gabriel attends the EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting in Luxembourg, which was also attended by the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. A joint roadmap for deepening relations between the EU and Central Asian countries was presented at the meeting.
"The EU-Central Asia partnership has an interest in focusing on sustainability, connectivity, regional cooperation and security. In the development of infrastructure connectivity between Europe and Asia, Bulgaria supports as a priority the implementation of projects in transport and communications, high technologies and innovation, energy and the construction of hydrogen valleys," Maria Gabriel said.
The EU Strategy for Central Asia was adopted in 2019, focusing on strategic geography, connectivity, energy resources, regional security and migration. "It is in our mutual interest that the EU-Central Asia relations are intensified and aimed at concrete benefits in political, economic and social terms", Maria Gabriel said. She also focused on the creation of exchange programmes in the field of culture and education - the so called. "capitals of culture" to encourage people-to-people contacts and mobility.
"With the roadmap for deepening EU-Central Asia relations we are building on what has been achieved so far with actions in five key strategic areas", the Deputy Prime Minister added. The first area focuses on deepening interregional political dialogue and cooperation. Second is strengthening economic ties, trade and investment. Third - cooperation on energy, climate neutral economy and connectivity. Addressing common security challenges will also be a priority. A fifth focus of the roadmap is the promotion of mobility and people-to-people contacts.
The next EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting will take place in 2024, hosted by Turkmenistan. The meeting will discuss what has been achieved in these five areas and the next steps.