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New Think Tank Forum Strengthens EU-Central Asia relations ahead of Summit

On March 19, 2025, the European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) and the International Institute for Central Asia (IICA) signed the Memorandum of Understanding and co-hosted the inaugural “Central Asia – EU Think Tank Forum” in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The Think Tank Forum is developed within full complementarity of the ongoing EU Central Asia political process and provides a platform for academic and think tank discussion, business and technical-expertise exchange, general foresight and track-1.5 diplomacy. It fulfills the key action of the 2023 Joint Roadmap for Deepening Ties between the EU and Central Asia, which calls for “facilitating meaningful participation and engagement of civil society and think tanks in decision-making”. It was intentionally organised two weeks before the historical EU Central Asia Summit, assembling Presidents of all five Central Asian Republics with the President of the European Council H.E. Antonio Costa and the President of the European Commission H.E. Ursula von der Leyen in Samarkand.

​​The first launch of the Think Tank Forum brought together 150 participants, including diplomats, think tank leaders, academics, technical experts, business representatives and media from both Central Asia and Europe. The inaugural speeches were made respectively by highest level invitees: Abdulaziz Kamilov (Highest Advisory Role to the President of Uzbekistan and former Foreign Minister), Javlon Vakhabov (Director of IICA and former Amb. to the United States), Samuel Doveri Vesterbye (Director of ENC), Eduards Stiprais (Ambassador level Special Representative to Central Asia for the EEAS), and Toivo Klaar (EU Ambassador to Uzbekistan).

Attention was given to the importance of EU Central Asia relations as well as the “Tashkent Platform” which is an initiative aimed at strengthening partnerships in key areas such as technology & artificial intelligence, trade, critical raw material investment, industrialisation, regional connectivity, education and tourism. ENC emphasized the importance of knowledge exchange, policy coordination, expert views and research-driven decision-making in shaping the future of EU-Central Asia relations.

Other speakers included Peter Vesterbacka (Finland, Entrepreneur, Slush startup ecosystem, and Angry Birds Founder) and Adamas Ilkyavičius (Lithuania, Innovation Expert), who discussed emerging technologies and forward-thinking initiatives. Emmanuel Dupuy (France, President of the Institute for European Perspective and Security), Rick Fawn (UK, Professor of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews), Heinrich Kerstgens (Germany, Corporate Representative at Rhenus Assets & Services), Shairbek Dzhurayev (Kyrgyzstan, President of Crossroads Central Asia), Tahir Zaimoglu (Uzbekistan, Infrastructure Specialist), and Yerlan Zhakupov (Kazakhstan, Head of the Department at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies) addressed regional development and economic integration, while Roman Dovolnov (UK, Senior Manager for Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Ernst & Young) highlighted sustainable practices. Marie Favereau (France, Director of the French Institute for Central Asian Studies) emphasized the importance of academic partnerships. Experts from 16 countries engaged in discussions on cross-border collaboration and future growth, concluding with a commitment to continue dialogue leading up to the next “Central Asia – EU” Summits.

The significance of this forum was further highlighted by the presence of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HRVP), who visited the region last week, as well as the EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, who has been in the region in the past weeks. Their engagements underscore the EU’s commitment to deepening its cooperation with Central Asia across multiple sectors with a special focus on logistics, deepened infrastructure networks, energy/renewables, critical raw materials and supply chain investments/trade, as well as digitalisation, security and water management.

During the forum, the IICA and the ENC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen bilateral collaboration and work towards a full strategic partnership with a strong focus on regional integration initiatives under the new platform. The agreement was reached following discussions between IICA Director Javlon Vakhabov and ENC Director Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, focusing on key regional issues and new formats for expert dialogue. This MOU lays the groundwork for a structured relationship that will facilitate follow-up actions in the upcoming EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand on April 3-4, 2025, ensuring continued cooperation and concrete outcomes from the discussions. It guarantees follow-up in expert advice, business-to-business cooperation, impact assessment and support for regional dialogue, educational initiatives, and institutionalised think tank support.

This summit marks a historic milestone as it is the first-ever EU-Central Asia Summit to be held in the region. The event will bring together key European and Central Asian leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, to strengthen regional political and economic ties.

ENC is dedicated to maintaining momentum from this forum, ensuring that structured expert dialogues continue to influence EU-Central Asia relations. As part of this commitment, plans have been set in motion to hold the forum biennially, providing a recurring platform for advancing regional cooperation and policy innovation. Through initiatives like this, ENC remains at the forefront of efforts to deepen EU-Central Asia ties, support economic development, and promote regional stability through expert-driven collaboration.

ENC and BHRTR Host Phase II Launch and Stakeholder Consultation for Business and Human Rights Project in İstanbul

On 16th December, the European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) and its partner, the Business and Human Rights Association Turkey (BHRTR), hosted a launch and stakeholder consultation event for Phase II of the “Strengthening Business and Human Rights Awareness and Capacity Building of Civil Society Actors” Project, supported by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German Consulate in Istanbul. The event aimed to present findings from the Phase I report on Turkey’s business and human rights (BHR) landscape, outline activities for Phase II, and gather valuable stakeholder feedback.

The event began with opening remarks by Asuman Kübra Baş (ENC Project Manager) and Samuel Doveri Vesterbye (ENC Director), who emphasized the vital role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in implementing new due diligence laws (e.g. LkSG and CSDDD). They highlighted the need for stronger stakeholder collaboration to prevent human rights violations in supply chains. Martin Graf, Deputy Consul General at the German Consulate in Istanbul, stressed the growing awareness of these laws among larger companies while emphasizing the importance of extending this understanding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in his welcoming speech.

The presentation of Phase I findings by Emre Keki (ENC Researcher) and Serra Zoraloglu (Projects and Services Coordinator at BHRTR) revealed significant challenges faced by Turkish companies—particularly SMEs—in understanding and complying with the new regulations. These challenges include limited awareness of legal requirements, a lack of resources and expertise to conduct effective due diligence, and concerns about the impact of compliance on competitiveness.

The event continued with an outline of Phase II activities, which were designed to address the challenges identified in Phase I. As explained by Dr. Çiğdem Çımrın (Co-Founder and Chairperson, BHRTR), Phase II focuses on building the capacity of key stakeholders to navigate the evolving regulatory landscape. This includes tailor-made trainings for NGOs, and trade unions, establishment of a dedicated platform for cooperation and knowledge-sharing among stakeholders and several important visibility activities.

The program concluded with a discussion and stakeholder consultation session that brought together representatives from various organizations, including UNDP, FNF Turkey, FES, academics, foundations, unions, and NGOs. Participants explored best practices, potential areas for cooperation, and approaches to addressing shared challenges. This gathering of diverse stakeholders reinforced the importance of collaborative efforts in tackling human rights issues and improving environmental standards. The discussions underscored the value of shared learning and capacity building, enabling organizations to better understand and effectively implement due diligence practices.

MEDIATIZED EU presents research results and policy recommendations in final conference

The MEDIATIZED EU project held its final Conference, Mediatized Discourses on Europeanisation: A Changing Landscape, on September 10, 2024, in Brussels. Our researchers showcased key project key results and evidence-based recommendations for EU policy-makers. The conference also brought together top experts on Europeanisation, media freedom and democratic transformations. Watch the video stream of the conference in full, below.

Dr. Tetyana Lokot, Project Coordinator and Associate Professor in the School of Communications of Dublin City University (DCU), opened the conference by explaining the project’s aims and key challenges. She pointed out that “our project is particularly interesting because it brings together seven countries, six of which are EU members, and Georgia, which is not a EU member but is one of the countries that aspire to join the EU.”

Mr. Jarkko Siren, Project Advisor of the European Research Executive Agency (REA) and the MEDIATIZED EU Project Officer, also gave opening remarks to contextualise the project within the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. In coordination with Mr. Paco de la Torre, REA Policy Officer for MEDIATIZED EU and sister projects, he explained the call under which the projects were funded, related to democratic transformations in Europe and the role of the media (more information available here). Mr. Siren pointed out that the questions first posed by MEDIATIZED EU four years ago remain very pertinent today.

For the conference’s keynote speech, Dr. Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Professor of Politics at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland, tackled the challenge of disinformation in Europe. Professor Beacháin discussed how impactful disinformation tactics have been for a number of recent political developments, from Brexit to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and argued that they can have long term results by polarising society and undermining the confidence in government and trust in the media.

Dr. Lokot commented on the complexity of the political and media landscape, due to the disinformation coming from third states to damage the EU and its reputation, and the central role of the media as spaces where disinformation is being promoted. Therefore, “the challenge for our project was how to design a research framework that takes account of these external threats but also the internal dynamics in each country to explain the different variables that combine to shape representations and public perceptions of the EU”, Dr. Lokot said.

Dr. Lia Tsuladze, Executive Director of the Center for Social Sciences (CSS) and Associate Professor of Sociology at Tbilisi State University, leading the project’s research package, presented the MEDIATIZED EU theoretical framework. She tackled fundamental concepts such as the mediatization of politics, the development of media democracy, as well as the media logic shaped by different tools and different discursive strategies. All of these processes reveal the importance of scrutinising the media discourses, Dr. Tsuladze explained. She also presented the methodology adopted by the research teams and summarised the project’s outputs, which are being made available in conferences, publications in open-access, and in other formats, through the project’s website, newsletters, and podcasts.

Next, the research teams reported on the findings of wide-ranging media analysis, in-depth interviews with political and media elites, and public opinion surveys, structured around the project’s seven country case studies.

Ms. Asuman Kubra Bas and Dr. Thomas Jacobs (European Neighbourhood Council – ENC) presented the findings of Belgium’s case, Dr. Holger Mölder (TalTech) presented Estonia’s findings, Dr. Lia Tsuladze (CSS) presented findings from Georgia, Prof. György Lengyel (Corvinus University Budapest), discussed results from Hungary, Dr. Tanya Lokot (DCU), spoke about the Irish case, while Dr. Maria Raquel Freire (Centre for Social Studies – CES), summarised the findings of Portugal’s case, and Dr. Sonia Boulos (Antonio de Nebrija University – UANE), discussed those of Spain. Researchers highlighted the cases’ commonalities and differences, and answered engaging questions and comments from the audience.

Finally, Dr. Sonia Boulos, Assistant Professor of Law and International Relations at UANE, Spain, presented the project’s recommendations for EU policy makers, which focus on how to ensure a healthy, pluralist and constructive debate about Europeanisation in the European media and public sphere. The recommendations were then discussed by Mr. Jack Parrock, EU Affairs Correspondent working in Brussels, and Mr. Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, Managing Director at ENC, moderated by Dr. Alessio Cornia, Assistant Professor in the School of Communications (DCU).

Watch the opening remarks, the research team presentations, and the discussion of the project’s policy recommendations in full, below. And stay tuned for more publications and summary results from MEDIATIZED EU.