The first summit between the leaders of the EU and the five countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) will take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The President of the European Council, António Costa, together with European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, will represent the EU, DKnews.kz reports.
The meeting will be hosted by the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The summit will be a key opportunity for the EU and Central Asia to demonstrate their geopolitical interest in intensifying bilateral relations and enhancing regional cooperation.
As identified in the goals of the 2019 EU strategy on Central Asia and the joint roadmap for deepening ties between the EU and Central Asia adopted in 2023, evolving relations between the EU and Central Asia have acquired increased strategic importance over the years.
In this context, during the summit the leaders will discuss areas of mutual cooperation such as:
- strengthening multilateral cooperation
- addressing common security challenges
- enhancing economic, trade and investment ties
- engaging on energy, climate neutral economy and connectivity under the Global Gateway, and cooperating on the green transition
- bolstering people-to-people contacts and mobility
The leaders are expected to issue a joint statement at the end of the summit.
Presidents Costa and von der Leyen will also participate in the opening session of the Samarkand international climate forum. Bringing together world leaders, policymakers, climate experts and activists, the forum provides a high-level platform to tackle regional and global threats caused by climate change and reaffirm a collective commitment to the green transition and sustainable development.
EU-Central Asia relations
In recent years, high-level relations have intensified between the EU and Central Asia. Two meetings at leaders level were held in October 2022 in Kazakhstan and in June 2023 in Kyrgyzstan, in addition to several ministerial-level discussions. A joint roadmap was established on 23 October 2023, to deepen the ties between the regions through dialogue and practical cooperation. The summit is preceded by the 20th EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting, which took place on 27 March 2025 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
The EU strategy on Central Asia was first adopted in 2007 and subsequently updated in 2019. It highlights the growing strategic relevance of the region and aims to foster a stronger partnership with the countries of Central Asia to allow the region to develop into a sustainable, resilient, prosperous and closely interconnected economic and political space.
- Joint Communiqué of the 19th European Union-Central Asia Ministerial Meeting, 23 October 2023, Luxembourg
- Joint communiqué - 20th EU-Central Asia ministerial meeting, 27 March 2025
- EU strategy on Central Asia (European Commission, 2019)
- EU-Central Asia (EEAS)
Trade
The EU is the second trading partner for the region (22.6% of combined foreign trade in 2023), as well as the largest investor, with over 40% of investment in the region originating from the EU. To further deepen bilateral ties, the EU has negotiated enhanced partnership and cooperation agreements (EPCAs) with all Central Asian countries, with the exception of Turkmenistan.
Three of the five Central Asian countries (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) benefit from favourable access to the EU market through the generalised scheme of preferences (GSP), which removes import duties from products coming into the EU market from vulnerable developing countries. As upper middle income-level economies, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan do not benefit from the GSP scheme.
