The European Union and Central Asian countries have agreed to elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership.
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Chaired by the Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the gathering was attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
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To anchor the upgraded relationship, von der Leyen announced a €12bn investment package under the EU Global Gateway strategy that rivals China’s Belt and Road Initiative (CBI) and investments committed by Russia to the ex-Soviet region, geopolitically now seen as much more “in play” given Moscow’s concentration on its war in Ukraine and the growing need of big powers to source critical minerals for the tech and energy transitions.
The funding will target priority sectors including critical raw materials (CRM), including a pledged emphasis on keeping added-value in processing local, as well as transport connectivity, digitalisation, water and energy. It will be allocated as follows:
- €3bn for sustainable transport initiatives
- €2.5bn for critical minerals development
- €6.4bn for hydropower and climate projects
- €100mn for satellite internet connectivity
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Nice article, thanks for sharing. Does anybody here have more details on the current relation between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan or Turkmenistan on the one hand and Russia or China on the other? I’m assuming their big neighbours don’t like this but it is more strategic for the central-asian countries to have strong ties with Europe, but I might be wrong.
