Connectivity

The eighth High-Level Political and Security Dialogue between the European Union and the countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - took place on Thursday (1 July) in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, with the participation of Afghanistan as special guest. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss regional dynamics and advance region-to-region cooperation on a broad spectrum of issues, including border management, security and the promotion of sustainable connectivity.

TRACECA seeks a closer co-operation with the European Union as it pursues its plans and activities to promote connectivity Europe-Caucasus-Asia in areas related to transport. This was stated by the Secretary-General of the TRACECA Inter-Governmental Commission, Asset Assavbayev, who this week was on a visit to Brussels  for discussions with EU officials. TRACECA brings together thirteen countries that form a transport corridor stretching from the heart of Europe to the borders of China.

Egypt will implement a comprehensive plan in which its ports will be upgraded. The country plans to become a logistics hub in the MENA region with the aim of promoting its position in international trade. The new plan, expected to be completed by 2024, involves 58 projects for upgrading Egyptian ports at an estimated cost of  63 billion Egyptian pounds (around 4 billion US dollars).

With the geopolitical focus shifting towards the Indo-Pacific region and China's growing assertiveness, Indo-European relations become increasingly important. In this op-ed for commonspace.eu, Alex Petrosyan looks at how the EU and India are taking their co-operation to a higher level with the Connectivity Partnership launched in May, and why even closer relations are necessary.

TRACECA is a child of the EU’s ambition to be a global player. The EU should not forget, nor ignore, nor sideline, TRACECA’s work. Instead it should recognise that TRACECA has shown it is resilient and adaptable. The next phase of EU-IGC TRACECA co-operation must therefore be more strategic, and more ambitious.

In an announcement on Friday (5 June), the Council of the European Union, which represents the 27 member states, said that it has decided to strengthen the existing restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus by introducing a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Belarusian carriers of all kinds.

A large Iranian navy ship caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman today according to Iran's news sources. The circumstances of the accident are unclear. 

Washington is against Nord Stream 2, but sanctions against the company are not in the national interest, The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.