THE PROSPECTS FOR BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL DIALOG BETWEEN TURKMENISTAN AND THE EUROPEAN UNION HAVE BEEN DEFINED

At a Government meeting held on the digital system, promising vectors of Turkmenistan's cooperation with the European Union were identified.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Meredov, reported that the practical steps being taken to develop our country's cooperation with the EU, presenting to the head of state a number of specific proposals for further strengthening political and economic cooperation with the European Union.

In this regard, was noted that in New York on September 18, 2023 the meeting between President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and President of the European Council Charles Michel was held. In addition, it was emphasized that Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Mark Bowman and European Commissioner for International Cooperation Jutta Urpilainen visited Ashgabat in 2024.

In March 2024, a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country visited Brussels, where meetings were held with senior representatives of the European Union, and a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and its member states and Turkmenistan was signed.

At the same time, meetings of the Inter–Parliamentary Dialogue and meetings of the Turkmenistan-European Union Joint Committee are regularly held in Ashgabat and Brussels. There is also a Turkmenistan–EU Human Rights Dialogue.

Active interaction is carried out in the Central Asia-European Union format, including contacts at various levels and holding forums on priority issues of cooperation. At the regular meeting of the foreign ministers of this format, held in Luxembourg in October 2023, a joint Roadmap for deepening interregional relations was adopted

 

In this context, proposals for further development of political and economic cooperation with the European Union were submitted to the head of state for consideration, including to hold a regular meeting of the Interparliamentary Dialogue in Ashgabat in 2025, the 20th meeting of the heads of the foreign ministries of the Central Asian countries and the EU, and the visit of the European Commissioner for International Cooperation to Turkmenistan.

A proposal was also related to the upcoming summit meeting with the participation of the heads of State of Central Asia and the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, which is scheduled to be held in Samarkand in April this year.

As noted, Turkmenistan pays special attention to gender policy in order to empower women. Cooperation with foreign countries and international organizations is carried out in this direction. In this regard, it is proposed to organize a Forum of Women Leaders of Central Asia and the European Union in Ashgabat in the first decade of April this year.

A number of projects and programs are being implemented jointly with the EU in various fields at the bilateral and regional levels. In this context, information and proposals on building partnership in such areas as education, environmental protection, ecology, development of circular economy, etc. were submitted to the President of Turkmenistan for consideration.

At the same time, it was noted that there are great prospects for cooperation in the scientific and educational field within the framework of the European Commission's Horizon Europe and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Programs, also an interaction with the European Research Council (ERC). In this regard, the Ministry of Education and the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan are invited to carry out appropriate work on the wide use of these opportunities

Summarizing the report, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov underlined that our independent state, consistently following the legal status of neutrality, actively cooperates with countries of the world and international organizations. As noted, by building up these relations based on the principles of peacefulness and good-neighborliness, Turkmenistan will continue to implement the "open door" policy.

For many years, our Motherland has been constructively cooperating with the European Union, as fully evidenced by the positive results of partnership in the political, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Speaking about this, the Head of state approved the proposals submitted to expand the bilateral and multilateral dialogue between Turkmenistan and the EU, in particular, in the Central Asia–European Union format, instructing the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to continue relevant work in this direction.