Borrell travels to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to strengthen ties with Central Asia

BRUSSELS, Nov. 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, begins this Wednesday a visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where he will participate in regional forums and seek to strengthen ties with the countries of Central Asia.

The tour begins in Astana, where he will meet Kazakh President Kasim Tokayev on Thursday. That same day he is expected in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where he will chair the EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting together with Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov.

This meeting will serve to increase cooperation with the countries of the region in areas such as security, trade, transportation and green energy. The situation that Ukraine is going through, when almost nine months of Russian aggression have passed, and the crisis in Afghanistan, will sneak into the meeting with some countries that are historically close to Moscow and that are key to the Kremlin’s international narrative.

On Friday, Borrell will be in charge of the EU-Central Asia Connectivity conference, focused on ‘Global Gateway’ infrastructure projects. Issues of digital connectivity, transport and energy will set the agenda.

It is expected that in the margins of these meetings, the head of European diplomacy will maintain contacts with representatives of other countries in the region, such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.