A meeting with representatives of the European Union was held at the International Institute for Central Asia. Daniyar Kurbanov, Head of Department at the Institute, held talks with Lea Tries, Program Manager at the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) of the European Commission, and Michaela Zeleňanská, Political Affairs Officer of the EU Delegation to Uzbekistan.

The parties discussed the current state and prospects for deepening cooperation between Uzbekistan and the European Union, including through the exchange of analytical and expert findings.

Lea Tries noted a marked intensification of mutually beneficial cooperation between Uzbekistan and the European Union across all priority areas, emphasizing that bilateral relations have reached a qualitatively new level. According to her, the visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to Brussels in 2025 and the signing of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement laid a renewed and more ambitious foundation for long-term strategic engagement between Tashkent and Brussels.

Particular attention was paid to the development of multilateral cooperation within the “Central Asia – European Union” format. As emphasized by the European Commission representative, the Central Asia – EU Summit held in Samarkand in April 2025 marked an important milestone in the institutionalization of interregional dialogue and provided additional momentum to deepen political, economic, and expert cooperation between the two regions.

Aziza Alimova, UzA