The Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan hosted a briefing on the architecture of relations between Turkmenistan and the European Union. Deputy Minister of foreign affairs Mahri Bashimova presented an analysis of current projects and announced the schedule of the most important interstate events for the coming year.
As Mahri Bashimova noted, cooperation with the European Union is one of the constant priorities of foreign policy of the country. This dialogue is based on two fundamental documents.
«Cooperation between Turkmenistan and the European Union is based on the principles of mutual respect, equality and interest, it covers a wide range of areas – political, economic, transport and energy, as well as cultural and humanitarian spheres. This partnership is based on a precise legal and policy framework. The key documents include the EU Strategy for Central Asia 2019, developed in close cooperation with the countries of the region, as well as the joint roadmap for deepening ties between the EU and Central Asia, adopted at the ministerial meeting on the 23rd of October, 2023», − the Deputy Minister emphasised.
M.Bashimova noted that Turkmenistan and the EU maintain high-level political dialogues, including contacts at the highest level. Cooperation is developing both on a bilateral basis in the Turkmenistan –European Union format and in the Central Asia – EU interregional format. To date, the parties are implementing about 30 bilateral and regional initiatives. The range of directions covers almost all spheres of society.
«Currently, bilateral and regional projects are being implemented in such areas as environmental protection, climate change adaptation, energy efficiency improvement, digitalisation and Internet development, cybersecurity, transport connectivity, economic development and investments in support of the private sector, countering drug trafficking and terrorism, developing a circular economy, as well as supporting women entrepreneurs and youth», − the diplomat said.
According to the Deputy Minister, the current year also promises to be extremely eventful for diplomatic contacts.
«The next interparliamentary dialogue between the Mejlis of Turkmenistan and the European parliament will be held in March. This will be followed by the holding of the next round of the Human Rights Dialogue in Ashgabat, the 5th high-level meeting of the DARYA project, which is scheduled for October this year. At the same time, there will be a meeting of the EU – Turkmenistan joint committee in Brussels, a high – level dialogue on EU security policy in Central Asia, a meeting of special representatives for Afghanistan, the next EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting and the European Culture Week in Turkmenistan, - Bashimova said.
The speech of the Deputy Foreign Minister confirmed that Turkmenistan is ready not only to maintain the current pace of relations, but also to fill them with new high-quality content, from parliamentary diplomacy to large — scale cultural exchanges.
