The next meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU- Central Asia format took place today in Tashkent, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry reported.
Foreign ministers of Kazakhstan - Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kyrgyzstan - Erlan Abdyldaev, Tajikistan - Sirodjidin Aslov, Uzbekistan - Abdulaziz Kamilov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Vepa Hadjiev and Vice President of the European Commission/EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini discussed issues of interregional collaboration.
The foreign ministers of the Central Asian countries welcomed the intention of the European Union to develop and adopt in 2019 an updated EU Strategy for the region, expressing the readiness of their states to take an active part in this process.
The counterparts discussed the prospects for economic development of the region and interregional in trade-economic, investment-technological, scientific and educational spheres.
Special attention was paid to the stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan and its socio-economic development on the eve of the Tashkent Conference "Peace Process, Cooperation in the Sphere of Security and Regional Collaboration".
In particular, the counterparts exchanged views on the support by the European Union for the efforts of the Central Asian states to ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan, its involvement in regional economic and infrastructural ties.
It was decided to hold the next meeting of the Foreign Ministers in the second year-half in Brussels.
