Eurasian Transition Group

EU - Central Asia meeting of ministers is scheduled to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan, later today. Three ministers will represent Europe: Foreign Minister of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Germany chairs the EU at this point), EU Representative to Central Asia Pierre Morel, and EU Commissar for Foreign Contacts and Policy of Neighborliness Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Portuguese Ambassador to Russia Manuel Kurtu is to be present too (Lisbon will replace Berlin as the US chairman in the second half of the year). The Europeans will be meeting with foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan will be represented by a deputy foreign minister.
The EU is out to work out a strategy of dealing with Central Asia. The ambitious idea belongs to German diplomacy. Making preparations for the EU chairmanship last autumn, Steinmeier pulled off something unprecedented for Western diplomats and visited all five capitals of the region. As a matter of fact, his visiting schedule made Steinmeier the last foreign official to meet with the Turkmenbashi who passed away in December 2006. Liberalization of regime in Turkmenistan that followed Niyazov's demise may turn out to be a major milestone in the relations between the European Union and Central Asia.
Should Turkmenistan prove itself ready for a dialogue with Europe, the role of the "bad boy" in the region will shift to Uzbekistan. This is the country the European Union slapped sanctions on in the wake of the outrage in Andijan in May 2005. Certain recent developments allowed for the hope that the sanctions would be lifted or at least eased soon but... The Uzbek authorities pressed criminal charges (activity without license and concealment of income) against Natalia Bushuyeva, Die Deutsche Welle correspondent. Michael Laubsch, the head of the Eurasian Transit Group and a prominent German expert, told Vremya Novostei that this episode reminded him of the tragedy of RL correspondent Ogulsapar Muradova who had died in prison in September 2006, several weeks after the arrest.
Muradova's death upset the European Union sufficiently to ruin the signing of a trade accord with Turkmenistan then. Laubsch claims that what information he got from the EU headquarters in Brussels and Foreign Ministry of Germany indicates that "the situation with the Die Deutsche Welle correspondent may have a counterproductive effect on the talks in Astana." "The European countries that were fairly undemanding with regard to the Central Asian regime are running out of patience," the German expert said. "The impression they are finally getting is that the promise of the reforms is but a trick."
Nothing in the meantime is going to interfere with the central political event in Astana today, namely the audience with President Nursultan Nazarbayev. EU visitors will tell the host what hopes they pin on Kazakhstan as the guarantor of European energy preparedness. Nazarbayev will inform his guests of the plans of the reforms.

Arkadi Dubnov, Vremja Novostei, p. 5

Reporters Without Borders today condemned a prosecution launched against, Natalya Buchuyeva, Deutsche Welle free-lancer, for tax evasion and failing to obtain accreditation, which has been brought by the prosecutor’s office in Tashkent.
There has been a dramatic increase in harassment of critical journalists since 2005 with those working for foreign media coming in for particular surveillance, the worldwide press freedom organisation said. Since 2006 they have all been forced to get official accreditation.
“This state of affairs is incompatible with the founding values of Europe and particularly of freedom of expression,” the organisation said. “We urge the European authorities not to ease sanctions against the regime of Islam Karimov as long as it continues to hound dissidents.”
Buchuyeva was summoned by the prosecutor’s office in the capital on 23 March, since when her family has heard nothing from her and she failed to turn up for a planned meeting today with her lawyer, Suhrob Ismailov. He said that the journalist, who is facing up to three years in prison, may have left the city.
The EU voted for sanctions against Uzbekistan following the May 2005 massacre in the eastern city Andijan in which around 800 people were killed, according to estimates by human rights groups (187 according to the Uzbekistan authorities). These sanctions were slightly eased on 13 November 2006 and are due to be reviewed in May 2007.
The Uzbek government in February 2006 adopted a new law to punish journalists working for foreign media who dare to criticise its policy. Under this law they can be sanctioned for interference “in internal affairs” or insulting “the honour and dignity of Uzbek citizens”. It also provides for accreditation to be cancelled in cases of infringement.
The procedure for applying for registration was extended from 10 days to two months and Articles 22 and 23 introduced additional restrictions banning both Uzbek and foreign citizens from cooperating with non-accredited journalists under pain of prosecution. Article 21 clearly equates journalists with terrorists by providing for the expulsion of anyone calling “for the overthrow of the constitutional order or for racial or religious hatred.”
Foreign media bureaux have been closed. Deutsche Welle was the latest to be shut down, following the BBC and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The german radio has tried to get the necessary accreditations according to the new law but was not successful until today. Correspondents working for foreign media have also been assaulted or arrested, including Lobar Qaynarova, Vladislav Chekoyan, and Tulkin Karaev.

 
 
Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world. It has nine national sections (Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). It has representatives in Bangkok, London, New York, Tokyo and Washington. And it has more than 120 correspondents worldwide.
 
 
 

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