Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) held a meeting with Patricia Flor, EU Special Representative for Central Asia, and her colleagues – Caroline Milow, Political Advisor to EU Special Representative for Central Asia, and Rein Tammsaar, Senior Advisor at the Political department of the EU Delegation to the Russian Federation. RIAC Deputy Program Director Timur Makhmutov, and Elena Alekseenkova, Program Manager specializing in Central Asia, conducted the meeting.
Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) held a meeting with Patricia Flor, EU Special Representative for Central Asia, and her colleagues – Caroline Milow, Political Advisor to EU Special Representative for Central Asia, and Rein Tammsaar, Senior Advisor at the Political department of the EU Delegation to the Russian Federation. RIAC Deputy Program Director Timur Makhmutov, and Elena Alekseenkova, Program Manager specializing in Central Asia, conducted the meeting.
RIAC activities were presented during the meeting. In particular, special attention was given to the events held as part of the Central Asia Project and to the analytical products published on the basis of the results of the expert work in this area.
During the discussion Ambassador Flor emphasized the importance of joint work between the Russian Federation and its Western partners in the sphere of regional security, in particular after the troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, in the area of hydraulic power industry, social and economic development of the region, including the issue of migration, investment and development assistance.
Possibilities of establishing international electric and hydraulic energy regimes in the region were discussed as well. Socio-cultural peculiarities of the region affecting the negotiation process in certain acute economic and social issues were also among the questions on the agenda. The experts stressed the high geopolitical relevance of the region that attracted considerable attention from a broad variety of states such as Russia, the USA, EU member-states, Iran, Pakistan, India, major Asia-Pacific states and several Arab monarchies.
The participants pointed out the importance of developing multilevel cooperation between the stakeholders, including representatives of the civil society and research institutions, aimed at finding joint solutions to the most crucial regional issues.
