EU Strategy to Firm up Energy Links
EU Strategy to Firm up Energy Links
NBCentralAsia experts say the European Union’s new strategy for Central Asia could help the EU become a stabilising force in the region.
The experts predict that the most significant part of the strategy, due to be presented in the Kazak capital Astana on March 28, will focus on regional security and expanding cooperation in the energy industry.
Saule Lukpanova, a senior academic at the Kazak Institute for Strategic Studies, said, “The EU is interested in keeping this region stable, predictable and evolving so that it can build up a long-term relationship.”
Petr Svoik, an NBCentralAsia analyst, expects the prime focus to be on energy, an area in which the EU plans to be more assertive.
NBCentralAsia observers hope the new strategy will also contain recommendations for political and social reform drawn from the EU’s experience.
One area of interest for Kazakstan is social policy, since current social dynamics are obstructing the government’s plan to become one of the 50 most competitive countries in the world.
“Social stratification is a real problem in Kazakstan now,” said Svoik. “There’s no question that our country is capable of generating money, and lots of it, but it is distributed very unevenly both among social strata and among different regions. Outside help in this area would be useful.”
Kazak political scientists believe the new strategy could give the EU a stabilising role in a region that is increasingly a focus for major world powers with diametrically opposed interests.
“The United States and Russia are big substantial players in the region, and the EU could provide a balance between these two forces,” said Lukpanova.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
The experts predict that the most significant part of the strategy, due to be presented in the Kazak capital Astana on March 28, will focus on regional security and expanding cooperation in the energy industry.
Saule Lukpanova, a senior academic at the Kazak Institute for Strategic Studies, said, “The EU is interested in keeping this region stable, predictable and evolving so that it can build up a long-term relationship.”
Petr Svoik, an NBCentralAsia analyst, expects the prime focus to be on energy, an area in which the EU plans to be more assertive.
NBCentralAsia observers hope the new strategy will also contain recommendations for political and social reform drawn from the EU’s experience.
One area of interest for Kazakstan is social policy, since current social dynamics are obstructing the government’s plan to become one of the 50 most competitive countries in the world.
“Social stratification is a real problem in Kazakstan now,” said Svoik. “There’s no question that our country is capable of generating money, and lots of it, but it is distributed very unevenly both among social strata and among different regions. Outside help in this area would be useful.”
Kazak political scientists believe the new strategy could give the EU a stabilising role in a region that is increasingly a focus for major world powers with diametrically opposed interests.
“The United States and Russia are big substantial players in the region, and the EU could provide a balance between these two forces,” said Lukpanova.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
