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Coordinator Dirk Wiese visits Kazakhstan and India

13.01.2020 - Press release

On the occasion of his trip to Kazakhstan and to India for the Raisina Dialogue, Dirk Wiese, Coordinator for Intersocietal Cooperation with Russia, Central Asia and the Eastern Partnership Countries, issued the following statement today (13 January 2020):

Kazakhstan is an important partner for Germany. In addition to the good economic and political relations between our two countries, the ethnic Germans from Kazakhstan traditionally form another pillar of our close cooperation.

In the context of the EU Central Asia strategy, Germany is seeking to strengthen the Central Asian states and Central Asia as a bridge between Europe and Asia, not least in light of global challenges such as climate change. With Green Central Asia, our climate change and security initiative, we want to make a very concrete contribution towards implementing the EU strategy. Political dialogue at regional level, underpinned by data on climate‑induced security risks, is intended to strengthen countries’ resilience.

Kazakhstan’s Government wants to undertake important reforms, but at the same time faces major challenges in terms of the rule of law and respect for democratic principles. I am looking forward to this my second visit to the country and to my talks with numerous contacts.

Full of fresh impressions from Kazakhstan, I will be going directly to the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi, one of Asia’s most important political conferences, to discuss with the international audience how Germany and the EU intend to grow their relations with Central Asia.

Background information:

From 13 to 14 January, Coordinator Wiese will be paying his second visit to Kazakhstan since taking up his post. He will be holding political talks in the capital Nur‑Sultan and in Almaty and meeting civil‑society representatives and members of the business community. On 15 January he will be taking part in the Raisina Dialogue, one of the most important international conferences in Asia, in the Indian capital Delhi. In a panel discussion at the conference, Wiese will be outlining German and European policy on Central Asia.

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