Policy of EU ''great power'' member states in Central Asia: differences in approach

Three EU countries, Germany, France and Britain, pursue an activeautonomous policy in Central Asia. Despite a certain similarity of interests and goals, there is a significant difference in both the generalapproach and specific aspects of their regional policy. On the other hand, the policies of the three states do not have special interests thatwould significantly hinder the making of a common approach within the European Union. Germany has the most powerful position in theregion. For Berlin, it is a kind of foreign policy capital that is used to safeguard a variety of its political, military and other interests in theworld. All the time Germany maintains intensive, diversified relations with all countries of the region while focusing on Kazakhstan andUzbekistan. Compared to other EU Member States, it implements the biggest program of economic assistance to the countries of the region.In 2007 Berlin lobbied the expansion of the EU presence in Central Asia. Another strong point of German policy is its moderate positionand its desire to avoid excessive politicization of political processes and human rights issues in the region. British policy in Central Asia isdistinctive as it basically follows the interests of British oil, gas and allied sectors companies in the Caspian region. The relations withKazakhstan are of the highest UK priority that attract the bulk of political and diplomatic resources of influence. The links withTurkmenistan are the second policy priority, which, however, has not produced significant results yet. The period of building closerrelations with Uzbekistan after September 11, 2001 was brief and ended in 2005 when Britain launched EU sanctions against Uzbekistanbecause of the events in Andijan. Greater emphasis on human rights issues has made Kyrgyzstan the main recipient of UK economicassistance to the region. French authorities initially bet on the promotion of relations with the largest regional economies in the region,namely, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. However, Paris was inconsistent, periods of activity alternated with those of restraint.As a result, France was able to gain a foothold in Turkmenistan only, mainly in the interests of big French industrial companies thatspecialize in executing major turnkey contracts. The interests in Afghanistan brought about a rapprochement between France and Tajikistan.After 9/11 a small contingent of French Air Force was deployed there. Since Nicolas Sarkozy came to power in 2007, French policy inCentral Asia has intensified, primarily in order to support French business activities in Kazakhstan. In addition to bilateral diplomacy, Parishas made greater use of multilateral institutions, particularly, the European Union.

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