Stockholm meeting, November 2009
Security Issues in Central Asia and the Swedish EU Presidency
Nafisa Hasanova
On November 5th the EU Central Asia Monitoring (EUCAM) project, in cooperation with the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), organised a roundtable discussion in Stockholm entitled “Security Issues in Central Asia and the Swedish EU Presidency”. The central question addressed by participants at this working meeting was how effectively was the Swedish Presidency coping with the security challenges facing Central Asia during its tenure in the second half of 2009.
This event brought together Swedish experts, journalists and policy-makers in Stockholm to discuss with EUCAM experts and EU officials the manifold security challenges facing Central Asia today and how the Swedish presidency has been dealing with the region during its term. Thomas Frellesen, Deputy Head of the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia Unit, Directorate General for External Relations of the European Commission, and Audrone Perkauskiene, Human Rights Desk officer from the Council Secretariat, gave a briefing on the progress made during the Swedish Presidency. A panel of EUCAM experts, consisting of Sebastien Peyrouse, Matteo Fumagalli, Michael Denison, Nicolas de Pedro and Marlene Laruelle, presented a range of security issues that EU policy for Central Asia needs to address.
In his opening speech, Michael Emerson called for a more proactive EU, especially on the big issues related to commercialisation of energy relations and investment in big hydro-power plants in the region’s upstream counties. The EU representatives highlighted the achievements of the Swedish Presidency: although Sweden doesn’t have diplomatic presence in Central Asia, the level of cooperation during the six-month tenure remained high, with no less than five Troika meetings having taken place. The EU-Central Asia Ministerial meeting on 15 September attracted over 70 diplomats and heads of states in Brussels, to discuss EU-Central Asia relations along with the issues related to Afghanistan, Iran, environment and water. Three rounds of Human Rights dialogues (in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan) and a civil society seminar (in Tajikistan) were held under the Swedish Presidency. The speakers, however, expressed the opinion that annual dialogues were insufficient. Heads of Mission on the ground should be more involved in pursuing this dialogue with the national governments and the representatives of civil society on a more regular basis.
The panel of experts identified issues such as drug trafficking, corruption, energy and food insecurity and growing illiteracy as posing a threat to security and stability in the region. As Matteo Fumagalli stressed, the energy focus is legitimate but it overshadows the concerns that Central Asians face on a daily, namely food security, which is directly linked to water and agriculture and hence goes beyond the borders of the poorer countries of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Central Asia is the world’s fifth largest transit route for Afghan opium. This fact, along with the endemic growth of corruption, is weakening the already fragile governments of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Participants suggested looking for solutions in Europe, countries of ‘demand’ rather than ‘supply’. And finally, the failing education system, in particular primary education and growing illiteracy, were mentioned as serious destabilising factors and a challenge for the EU in the near future.
