Official website of Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan parliament.gov.uz

Patricia Flor: “It's nice to be a witness of spectacular reformations”

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31.07.2012

As it was previously reported, newly appointed Special Representative of the European Union for Central Asia Patricia Flor visited Uzbekistan. She was accepted in Oksaroy residence, meetings and negotiations were held at the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

At the end of the visit, P.Flor shared her impressions of the meetings and negotiations:

- I am very pleased that my visit was rich in events. And, of course, a special impression I came away fr om the meeting with the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov. We discussed state and prospects of relations between Uzbekistan and the EU, the issues of ensuring stability and security in Central Asia, as well as other actual themes.

There are various areas where our interests coincide. An example of this – security issues in the region wh ere the EU proposes measures on strengthening the fight against drug trafficking, organized crime and other threats of our time.

There are also other possibilities for further development of productive cooperation, including in the field of legislation, as we had detailed talks with the Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis. I think that the European experience can be useful for specialists of Uzbekistan in such areas as social welfare, environmental protection.

The first time I visited Tashkent for nearly twenty years ago. Today I am pleased to witness the dramatic reformations achieved in the country over the past few years, tremendous progress is seen in all spheres of society, particularly in the field of education. We intend to raise a new level of our multi-faceted cooperation. And I think that the direct dialogue between Uzbekistan and the EU is a good basis for further development of this interaction.

I want to note that the EU Strategy on Central Asia includes several priorities – economy, ecology, education, democracy and human rights. Here is just one example. Currently, the European Union is implementing a project on reforming the criminal legal code and judicial reforms, and I see great opportunities for sharing experiences with Uzbek counterparts in this direction.