On April 4th, a combination of leaders of the European Union and five Central Asian countries held their first summit on Friday, declaring a new strategic partnership to boost trade and other economic ties. This summit was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan with attendees present being the European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commision President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of the countries of : Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Council President Costa added a comment on this summit, saying that “the European Union is eager to build a mutually beneficial partnership with Central Asia, one that goes beyond expectations.” The purpose of this summit is to deepen trade ties and expand cooperation in transport, critical raw materials, digital connectivity, water, and energy with the EU and Central Asian states. A 12-billion-euro Gateway Investment package to increase cooperation in transport, critical raw materials, clean energy, and digital connectivity was additionally announced by Von der Leyen.
This summit between Central Asian and EU leaders is no surprise due to the economic states of the world with the confusion of American tariffs and the cutting of ties with the U.S. and many previously conceded trade agreements. The EU imports energy from the United States, and because of the tariffs and other economic circumstances throughout the world (such as the on-going Russian-Ukrainian Conflict and worldwide animosity against China), the EU needs to find a new source of many natural resources and energy. Luckily for the central Asian states, many are resource rich, especially with oil, and because of the proximity of many of these states to the bordering and rising EU power, Turkey, this energy can be easily transferred via pipelines. This transportation route from Central Asia to Europe, often running through Turkey, is not a new route of transportation, as it has been a vital economic region throughout history, with the silk road, the great trade cities of Constantinople/Istanbul. This increased trade will also further EU attempts of having less reliance on the U.S. because of the economic uncertainty as of now. Turkey will only continue to rise in power because of its economic position and increased political power within the EU because of this economic positioning.
The EU functions on the basis of multilateral treaties as an IGO. The treaties act like a constitution in that parties are consenting to be bound by the treaty that sets the function, and purposes of the organization. Having international legal status, IGOs have privileges, immunities, rights, and duties that are based upon its founding charter or statute. All of these legalities of the IGO that is the EU gives the organization rights to create treaties, enforce regulation, have things such as open borders, free and full access to the EU trade marketplace, to follow the laws, rules, and further direction, and ect. It will be intriguing to see in the near future how successful this new connection is for both the EU and the central Asian countries involved, and how this ever-changing economic world and dynamic as of now will affect large IGOs, such as the EU.