Description: Leaders from the European Union, Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, held the first Summit with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Costa and Leyen discussed the deepening of strategic ties between EU and the Central Asian countries, especially in the sectors of critical raw materials, transport, digital connectivity, water and energy. The discussions were followed by Leyen’s announcement of a Gateway Investment Package that amounted to $13.2 billion for the mentioned areas of cooperation. The Summit was praised by the Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who stated that the Central Asian region and EU have enhanced trade in the past years to almost $60 billion and the enhanced strategic cooperation was the natural way of developing further mutual ties.
Impact: The Summit represents the expected global shift of geopolitics towards a multipolar global order. The dissolution of transatlantic relations between the EU and the US has prompted the Union to rapidly readjust their strategic positioning and devise new strategic allegiances with countries of interest. EU’s recent diplomatic activities indicate that Europe is primarily focused on gaining the ever elusive economic and defensive independence. Key strategic partnerships such as these could enable the Union to strengthen its capabilities, however, such initiatives could be trampled by internal divisions within the EU which could debilitate the Union’s path towards independent development and progress.