OREANDA-NEWS. April 9, 2008. Ashkhabad welcomes the honorary guests again. On April 9-10 the Turkmen capital hosts the meeting of EU-3 and the Central Asian countries at the level of foreign ministers. The agreement to meet was achieved during the talks of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov with the EU representative delegation this January.

As the largest political and economic community on the European continent the European Union is moving towards building the foundation of the policy of global security, maintaining collaboration with the large countries and regional alliances worldwide. In this context co-operation with Turkmenistan that takes the leading position in the Central Asian region is a key trend of the EU’s foreign policy strategy.

The Central Asian Strategy approved by the EU’s supreme body – the European Council underlies long-term collaboration in this field. The strategy was first proposed in Berlin on June 30, 2007 – at the meeting with the representatives of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Implementing the EU-Central Asia partnership strategy aimed at on closer political, economic, ecological and humanitarian co-operation at both bilateral and regional levels is a focus of the current meeting in Ashkhabad. The agenda includes the aspects of expanding the dialogue of mutual concern in the sphere of education, law, economy, trade, energy, environmental protection as well as the prospects of co-operation in tackling the global threats including border management and drug trafficking control.

A series of the bilateral talks between EU-3 and the Central Asian delegation are scheduled within the framework of the Ashgabat meeting. The members of the foreign delegation will participate in the ceremony of opening the House of Europe in Ashgabat. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov is expected to receive the honorary guests.

The fact of choosing the Turkmen capital to host the current meeting testifies to significant important that the European Union attaches to development of mutually advantageous co-operation with Turkmenistan, which is resolutely moving along the path of progressive reforms.

Mutual interest and the partners’ endeavors to continue long-term co-operation built on the principles of equality, confidence and mutual benefit were confirmed during numerous meetings within the framework of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels.

Turkmenistan has been successfully co-operating with the European Union since 1991 under the TACIS joint projects implemented in various fields. In recent years a number of the projects particularly in the fuel and energy sector, education, financing, statistics, agriculture were implemented. The sphere of co-operation covers personnel training and professional development, exchange of advanced experience and good practice, introduction of advanced practical training methods, improvement of the effective use of natural resources, development of the legal system, assistance to civil society.

A priority trend of Turkmenistan-European Union co-operation is concerting efforts to ensure stability and global security including strengthening borders and combating international terrorism and illicit drug trafficking.