It is high time for Europe to reconsider its priorities in Central Asia

Szabolcs Szalay | 16th February 2023 | Comment

EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy - Vice President Josep Borrell attend during Eu Central Asia Ministerial meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 17 November, 2022. Yasin Akgul / EU

The EU needs to play a more active role in Central Asia with regard to both energy security and connectivity

Central Asia has long been considered a remote part of the world where the European Union did not have much to look for. Historically a part of the Russian sphere of interest and influence, isolated from the rest of world, this vast area remained largely peripheral up until the last decade. China was the first to realise the strategic importance of Central Asia and to take action. In 2013 Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a successor to the one-time Silk Road, with the aim to expand China’s economic (and political) influence through massive investments in infrastructure: railways, highways and pipelines to connect the country with Europe via Central Asia. Following Putin’s aggression on Ukraine and the Western economic sanctions against Moscow, some voices inside the EU have been urging the Community to play a more active role in Central Asia with regard to both the energy policy and the connectivity with the Far East. European Counci...

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