Analysing Collaborative Efforts Between Central Asian Countries

and the European Union

Saodat Ubaydullayeva

Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Cooperation, Region, Security, Foreign Policy.

Abstract: The article describes in detail the unique place and role of the European Union in the ongoing cooperation to

ensure regional security in Central Asia. The format of multilateral cooperation with international

organizations is reflected as an important direction of foreign political activity for Central Asian countries.

The main directions of the measures defined in the strategy of the European Union in Central Asia are covered

in detail.

1 INTRODUCTION

Central Asia is a complex area of threats to regional

security and stability and an important geopolitical

space that affects the current world perspective. “...In

today’s interconnected world, the only way to get out

of the vortex of dangerous problems is constructive

dialogue and multilateral cooperation based on taking

into account and respecting the interests of each

party...”. From this point of view, in order to ensure

regional security, it is increasingly necessary to find

a common way to eliminate threats and risks within

the framework of the interdependence system in

Central Asia, and the development of a common

action strategy aimed at eliminating factors that

threaten the stable development of the region is

becoming an urgent task.

Multilateral foreign policy, which is actively used

in different regions of the world, plays an important

role in the formation of the regional security complex

system. The format of multilateral cooperation with

international organizations is an important direction

of foreign political activity for Central Asian

countries. Such cooperation will focus on unifying

efforts to combat threats and risks that negatively

impact sustainable development and stability in

Central Asia.

At the same time, each country in the region

ensures its security by relying on the national security

system and cooperation with international

organizations. On the other hand, on the agenda of

Central Asia, there is the question of creating an

association or organization in which all the countries

of the region can become members on security issues.

Central Asia is interesting to foreign countries due

to the presence of a large amount of natural resources

in the region. For example, natural gas reserves in the

region make up 13.2% of CIS gas reserves and 4% of

world gas reserves. Oil reserves in the region make

up 3.5% of the world’s total oil reserves. Therefore,

establishing control over fuel and energy resources

and their transportation routes allows for control of

the situation in the entire region. Experts of the US

private intelligence and analysis company “Stratfor”

say that “whoever acquires the energy resources of

Central Asia will ultimately control this region”.

According to F. Starr, the importance of Central Asia

is that it is the only region in the world surrounded by

nuclear states such as India, China, Russia, Pakistan,

Iran and Turkey.

According to Yu. Morozov, the regional security

system has not yet been formed in Central Asia.

Currently, it is multi-level and contradictory. Stability

is maintained due to military-political agreements

signed by the US and NATO with the countries of the

region (which do not always trust each other). On the

other hand, Russia is developing partnership relations

with Central Asian countries within the framework of

the CIS, EAEU, and SCO, and with some of them

within the framework of the CSTO.

At the same time, the Central Asian countries are

strengthening strategic cooperation with all their

main partners in foreign policy. According to experts,

strategic partnership is the organizational structure of

1140

Ubaydullayeva, S.

Analysing Collaborative Efforts Between Central Asian Countries and the European Union.

DOI: 10.5220/0012955000003882

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 1140-1143

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

cooperation between countries for the

implementation of joint measures.

The desire of the Central Asian countries for

regional cooperation has a specific aspect, which is

related to geographical, historical, ethno-cultural,

political and socio-economic basis and conditions.

Realizing the nature of threats and risks, the countries

of the region are drawing up their strategies based on

the objective situation; and they are creating the

regional security system based on the principles of

mutual trust, reasonable approach, and transparency.

Cooperation at the European level is different and

has a specific goal in Central Asia. Some experts

believe that the EU and the USA are working together

on the issue of security in Central Asia from the same

point of view, and in some cases, this issue is studied

within the framework of a “transatlantic partnership”.

Both parties are committed to holding annual

meetings, discussing projects and organizing mutual

consultations. In addition, the Central Asia policy

implemented by the EU in the region through the

global format (the EU-UN format for Central Asia

and Afghanistan) also causes the opinion that the EU

does not have its own foreign policy direction for

Central Asia.

However, the development of regionalization

taking place in Central Asia in recent years, taking

into account the European factor, and the

strengthening of the influence of globalization serves

as a basis for believing that the EU has its own

direction in relation to regional security, which can be

implemented without the participation of the United

States. This is confirmed by the following.

First of all, since the independence of the Central

Asian countries, the EU has started to implement its

Central Asian policy by implementing programs and

projects aimed at helping the countries of the region

in their reforms in the economy, transport, democratic

changes and other areas. During this period, all the

programs developed by the EU were implemented

with the CIS in mind, because the European countries

did not consider Central Asia as a separate structural

element of international relations.

In addition, this situation was caused by the

Russian factor. Russia, despite the creation of new

independent states in 1991, still maintained a

leadership position in the environment of the former

Union. This factor was the main obstacle to the

development of a common policy for the Central

Asian region. Therefore, many programs and projects

are intended for bilateral cooperation, and multilateral

ones are directed to specific goals (strengthening

borders and cooperation in the fight against

international terrorism, preventing the illegal

distribution of narcotics, etc.).

The first clear, comprehensive and multilateral

policy of the European Union on Central Asia began

in 2007 with the adoption of the EU strategy in

Central Asia. The measures defined in this strategy

were implemented until 2013. The EU, as an

independent participant, has firmly established itself

in Central Asia by taking the measures set out in the

strategy, that is, conducting permanent political

dialogues with the countries of the region, as well as

implementing projects in the fields of education,

energy, law and priority of human rights.

Secondly, in the regional security issues of

Central Asia, Afghanistan was considered an integral

part of the interdependence complex of the EU's

regional policy. The factor of Afghanistan is always

taken into account in the implementation of measures

related to the countries of Central Asia, but its

geographical location cannot be the basis for the EU

to fully include it in the Central Asian region. In this

regard, the conceptual views and ideas of the

European Union are implemented in the frameworks

of “EU-Afghanistan” and “EU-Central Asia-

Afghanistan”. For example, in October 2017, the EU

adopted a strategy for Afghanistan 2017-2020.

Despite the fact that this strategy is aimed at

strengthening the social and economic spheres and

taking measures to ensure stability in Afghanistan,

ensuring regional security is defined as a priority of

the EU policy. This situation shows that the EU has

not yet realized that Afghanistan is of the greatest

importance in the perfect security complex. Bilateral

relations are carried out within the framework of the

“EU-Afghanistan” approach, in particular, in 2017,

the parties signed the “Agreement on Cooperation,

Partnership and Development”, in which priority is

mainly focused on the areas of economic cooperation,

fight against corruption and cooperation in the field

of migration.

Thirdly, the EU and the Central Asian countries

jointly created a space for dialogue in the field of

security. In this case, dialogues are conducted in a

bilateral framework and through multilateral

mechanisms, without the direct participation of the

United States and other forces in world politics. This

policy is implemented in several formats - regional

diplomacy, conference diplomacy, with individual

countries and with the participation of Afghanistan.

The European Union uses regional diplomacy in

organizations and institutions within its system. They

implement projects to combat threats and risks in

Central Asia (for example, border management in the

Analysing Collaborative Efforts Between Central Asian Countries and the European Union

1141

region, projects related to the transport sector, and

projects to combat radiation).

In the framework of conference diplomacy,

international and intersectoral forums are held with

the participation of heads of ministries and

departments of Central Asian and EU countries, for

example, a meeting of the “EU-Central Asia”

ministerial conference. An example of this is the

meeting of the foreign ministers of these countries to

discuss and develop measures to resolve issues in the

field of regional security.

Bilateral security relations are being implemented

within individual countries. For example, a meeting

of the “Uzbekistan-EU” cooperation council is held

every year.

Within the framework of the format with the

participation of Afghanistan, programs are

implemented with the participation of all countries in

the region, as well as the EU and Afghanistan. For

example, high-level talks on political and security

issues are held between the EU and Central Asian

countries with the participation of Afghanistan every

year.

On September 19, 2018, a joint appeal of the

European Commission to the European Parliament,

the Council of Europe, the European Socio-Economic

Commission, the Committee of the Regions and the

European Investment Bank entitled “European and

Asian relations - building alliances as an

implementation of the EU strategy” was published.

According to the document, EU cooperation with

Asia is of global importance. In 2016, the EU

exported €618 billion worth of goods to Asia, which

is 35% of the EU’s total exports. At the same time,

the value of the import of goods is 774 billion euros,

which means 45% of the total import of the EU. Asia,

like Europe, needs investment to sustain economic

growth. The annual trade volume between Europe

and Asia is estimated at 1.5 trillion euros. It is

noteworthy that the share of Eurasia in the world GDP

is about 60 per cent.

The success of the EU’s strategy to expand

European and Asian cooperation depends on the

ability of the participating countries to establish and

implement trade flows between the continents.

Therefore, the Central Asian countries show great

interest in this initiative. They are ready to explore the

possibilities of working together on this basis.

For example, Kazakhstan’s strategic approach is

to take maximum advantage of the country’s

geographical location and coordinate its national

infrastructure development programs with those of

neighbouring countries and powerful partners.

Therefore, the development of the Trans-Caspian

international transport network passing through

China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan,

Georgia, and then Turkey and European countries is

one of the main directions of work in this regard.

Also, the railway line “Baku-Tbilisi-Kars” is one

of the largest infrastructure objects. 1 billion dollars

were spent on the construction of this railway line,

which was launched in October 2017. According to

information, it takes 18 days to deliver a container

from Shanghai to London. However, it takes 45 days

to ship by normal sea route(Mirziyoyev- European

Union and Afghanistan sign Cooperation Agreement

on Partnership and Development dated 2017,

February 18).

2 CONCLUSIONS

Thus, the multi-directional foreign policy of the EU

in Central Asia and Afghanistan is implemented

independently of other powerful countries. Also, the

UN, NATO, OSCE organizations, the USA, Russia,

China and other major countries are directly involved

in the implementation of some directions of this

policy.

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