The European Union hopes to diplomatically convince the Central Asian countries not to help Russia circumvent sanctions, European Council President Charles Michel said following the Central Asia-European Union summit held in Cholpon-Ata, EADaily reports.
“We have already taken many measures against those who support the Russian war machine. 10 packages of sanctions. We are now discussing the 11th package of sanctions to reduce the risk of circumvention. But I want to make it clear that we are not applying any extraterritorial measures. Most importantly, we want to work with all our partners around the world only through dialogue,” said Michel.
He recalled the visit of EU Special Representative for Sanctions David O'Sullivan to the region.
"He had the opportunity to meet with representatives of all countries in the region and discuss with them all issues related to sanctions, in order, on the one hand, to convince our partners not to help Russia bypass sanctions, and on the other, to hear from them about the consequences of our sanctions," he explained. Michelle.
The head of the European Council called the European Union a reliable and predictable partner for Central Asia, aimed at the long term.
“EU member states are the largest source of foreign direct investment in the region. They account for more than 40% of foreign direct investment. We have concluded or are working on enhanced partnership and cooperation agreements with several Central Asian countries. And they have the potential to take our bilateral cooperation to a new level,” concluded Charles Michel.
It is known that through Central Asia a lot of goods manufactured in the USA, Japan, and the European Union are imported to Russia - from smartphones to cars. During his visit to the region, EU Special Representative for Sanctions David O'Sullivan stated that by the end of 2022, exports of goods from the EU to Kyrgyzstan increased by 300%, and for some items, such as advanced technologies and dual-use goods - by 700%.
Almost $2 billion more goods were sent from Kazakhstan to Russia than a year earlier. At the same time, for 8 months of 2022, the supply of smartphones increased by 88 times, monitors - by more than 300 times. If in 2021 Kazakhstan exported $12,000 worth of semiconductors to Russia, in 2022 the amount jumped to $3.7 million.
The summit "Central Asia - European Union" was held on June 2 in Cholpon-Ata. It was attended by the head of the European Council Charles Michel, the presidents of four countries of the region - Sadyr Japarov (Kyrgyzstan), Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (Kazakhstan), Emomali Rahmon (Tajikistan) and Shavkat Mirziyoyev (Uzbekistan), as well as the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkmenistan.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
June 5, 2023