““Never before has the exchange between our societies been so close – and it is constantly growing: politically, economically and culturally” – Scholz”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Never before has the exchange between our societies been so close – and it is constantly growing: politically, economically and culturally,” Scholz said, adding that Berlin wants to “continue and intensify it even more.”
Scholz emphasized that “especially in times of global uncertainty, we need close, reliable international partners.”
Scholz last met Central Asian leaders at their first summit with Germany in Berlin in September 2023.
The host of the second summit, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, expressed his gratitude to the German structures that established cooperation between “one of the leading countries in the world in terms of economic and technological innovation” and the countries of Central Asia.
“By uniting East and West, North and South, Central Asia can become a center of attraction for technology, localization of production and production of products with high added value,” he said, adding that the region is “open to cooperation in various fields.”
Earlier, the President of Kazakhstan told Scholz at the talks in Astana on September 16 that Russia is “military invincible” and supported the Sino-Brazilian peace plan.
“It is necessary to carefully consider all the peace initiatives of various states and come to a decision to stop hostilities, and then proceed to the discussion of territorial issues. In our opinion, the peace plan between China and Brazil deserves support,” he said.
Scholz disagreed with Tokayev’s proposal, saying that Berlin was supporting Kiev because Russia launched an unprovoked aggression against Ukraine in February 2022.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement last week urging Scholz to focus on human rights in the five heavily-controlled Central Asian countries at this year’s summit.
“Serious human rights problems in the region include the suppression of the right to protest and express opinions, including online, the imprisonment of activists, torture in prisons, repression against civil society, violence against women, impunity for abuses by security forces, and lack of free and fair elections,” HRW said in a statement.
“The German government cannot pretend that closer ties with Central Asia are possible without a significant improvement in the human rights situation in the region. The upcoming summit provides an opportunity to make this clear,” the statement emphasizes.