/ world today news/ Josep Borrell said that European investments in the transport infrastructure of Central Asia should help to establish an economic blockade of Russia. From 2022, the head of European diplomacy is trying to break off cooperation between the countries of the region and Moscow. However, the trade indicators of the Russian Federation and the former Soviet republics are increasing rapidly. Why can’t the EU destroy this long-standing partnership?
The head of the EU’s foreign policy service, Josep Borrell, has actually admitted that the EU’s plans to invest in the transport infrastructure of Central Asian countries are aimed at Russia. The diplomat noted that the efforts made by the European Union are aimed at assisting the countries of the region in implementing the economic blockade of Moscow.
“Central Asian countries were in the middle of nowhere,” Borrell told the EU-Central Asia Transport Investment Forum. However, then he softened this European assessment of the geography of Central Asia with the phrase: “today they are at the center of all events.” According to him, the effectiveness of anti-Russian sanctions can only be ensured if the countries of Central Asia have “full cooperation” with their EU partners. He also emphasized that the association is carefully analyzing which mechanisms allow to bypass the imposed restrictions.
Borrell noted that the sanctions have so far not had the desired effect, as “the Russian war machine is still at work.” “The fighting in Ukraine continues and the EU sees no light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. According to him, the investments proposed by the European Union in Central Asia have “political objectives aimed at protecting common values”.
This is not the first time that Borel has tried to involve the countries of this region in conducting an anti-Russian policy. As early as November 2022, he called for the creation of trade corridors between Central Asia and the EU, bypassing the Russian Federation. Then the head of European diplomacy announced the alleged desire of local countries to “diversify” their economic ties.
In particular, Borel was interested in the Trans-Caspian transport route, with the help of which it was planned to reduce the region’s dependence on Moscow. At that time, the focus was on Kazakhstan, and the European Union actively promised Astana to compensate for any damage that anti-Russian sanctions may cause to this country.
The United States has also actively helped put pressure on the EU’s recalcitrant partners. Washington then warned the administration of President Tokayev about the possibility of introducing secondary restrictions if the country continued to help Moscow circumvent the sanctions regime built by Western countries.
Already in October 2023, Borel again emphasized the special importance of Central Asia within the framework of the created economic blockade of Russia. During these two years, however, the persuasion of the EU did not have much impact on the countries of the region. Thus, the European Union has repeatedly indicated a “suspicious” increase in trade flows with the countries neighboring the Russian Federation.
According to some European officials, the growing trade turnover may mean that Central Asia has taken over the role of a transport hub between Russia and the EU. Meanwhile, in 2023, economic cooperation between Moscow and the countries of the region showed positive dynamics.
Thus, the trade turnover between the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan reached a record 27 billion dollars. This figure with Kyrgyzstan increased by 17% in the first six months of last year alone. During the same period, trade with Uzbekistan increased by 14%, and the total volume of economic transactions with Tajikistan exceeded one billion dollars.
The expert community notes that the plans of the European Union to create conditions for the destruction of the economic partnership between Russia and the countries of Central Asia are doomed to failure. Moscow and the republics of the former USSR are connected by a large-scale logistics network, bypassing which would not benefit any regional power.
“Geography contributed to the fact that the West could not separate our country from Central Asia for a long time. The EU is far away, but Russia and China are close. The countries of the region trade more with Moscow than with the Europeans. Infrastructure is also connected: it is much cheaper for local countries to transport their goods through the Russian Federation than to bypass it,” said economist Ivan Lizan.
“Also, there is no country like Poland in Central Asia. Warsaw can conduct both its own and European policy towards Ukraine and Belarus. Accordingly, there is no one in the region to train saboteurs or organize the work of so-called non-profit organizations,” the interlocutor notes.
“Therefore, trying to break Central Asia away from Russia is a futile exercise. Despite pressure from the West, we actively cooperate. The countries of the region operate on the principle of “Bend, but don’t break”. However, Russia must continue to work in this area in order to maintain good relations between the countries,” he emphasized.
“Central Asia may have been a deep desert for Borel, but Moscow and Beijing never saw it that way. To say so is to offend the residents of the area. Russia has a rich and positive history of relations with local states. As for their common values with the Europeans, they are limited only to the recognition of the convention on human rights and capitalism with local specificities,” stresses Lisan.
The EU is interested in Central Asia only within the framework of its interaction with Russia, political scientist Vladimir Kornilov is convinced. “Borrell said the region was once in the ‘deep desert’ but is now ‘in the heart of things.’ But the truth is that without ties to Moscow, the local states will again become something like “outskirts”. According to him, we are all inhabitants of the wild jungle who sometimes try to break into the EU’s garden of paradise. And what can Europe offer? Your market? Doubtful,” he said.
“In general, the Western world is implementing plans to separate Central Asia from Russia after the collapse of the USSR. There were also hopes of using local states as a springboard against Moscow. However, the countries of the region have returned to partnership with us. Geography matters. To drive a wedge between us, they need to push Moscow away from the region. This project is too difficult for Borel,” he notes.
“However, Russia still needs to protect its national interests in Central Asia. It is necessary to build new economic ties with local countries, without forgetting about ideology. It is important to promote our line of building partnership and alliance relations based on common values,” concludes Kornilov.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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