Anis H. Bajrektarevic is a Professor and a Chairperson for International Law and Global

part of ethnic minorities. Regarding the Uighur
population, China and Kazakhstan have formed
a relationship which is staunchly anti-Uighur
despite Kazakhstan being considered a more
favorable home than China for Uighurs.
MODERNDIPLOMACY.EU

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EuROPEAN uNION
Immediately after the dissolution of the Soviet
Union, the European Union (EU) was in the mid-
dle of its own development and reinforcement
of its international position. Following the Sep-
tember 11, 2001 attacks and the following in-
ternational 
fight 
against 
terrorism 
in
Afghanistan, the EU was forced to engage itself
with the entire Central Asia region more in-
tensely. The main EU-oriented interests are se-
curity issues such as combating terrorism, drug
trafficking, illegal migration/ immigration,
human trafficking and supporting the democ-
ratization process, as well as energy security
maintenance for Europe. European companies
heavily invest in Kazakhstan as it offers the
friendliest business climate among the region’s
resource rich countries. The EU’s focus in Central
Asia started when the Central Asian states were
granted and declared their independence. 
Trade between EU member states and Central
Asian republics respectively operate under the
frame of most-favored nation (MFN) status in
terms of tariffs. 
The PCA (Partnership and Co-operation Agree-
ment) regulates also various trade related mat-
ters such as the provisions on the elimination
of quantitative restriction, state aids, and com-
petition. Kazakhstan’s, Kyrgyzstan’s, Uzbek-
istan’s, and Tajikistan’s EU-trade relations are
regulated with the PCA whereas Turkmenistan’s
PCA agreement is yet not ratified by the EU
bodies. Turkmenistan’s bilateral trade is gov-
erned instead by an Interim Trade Agreement
which was signed in 1998. Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan are the other two resource rich
countries (besides Kazakhstan) in Central Asia.
Therefore trade between EU and these two
states has been steadily increasing. Trade be-
tween the EU and Turkmenistan for 2013, to-
taled 1.957 million Euros: 866 imports and 1091
exports with an export balance of 255 million
Euros.[122] Concerning Uzbekistan, trade be-
tween the two has steadily increased as a gen-
eral trend. For the years of 2009 to 2013, exports
have vastly exceeded imported goods. [123]
For 2013, total trade between the EU and
Uzbekistan was 1.655 million Euros.[124] 
64

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European Union interest concerning Central
Asia rose significantly due to Ukraine-Russia gas
dispute at the end of 2005, which provided a
wake-up call to the EU in order to get away
from Russian natural resource dependence.
Therefore, the diversification of the European
Union’s energy supply becomes a key issue in
its energy security policy forcing it to seek new