On March 12, 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov met with the European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sikela, who arrived in Turkmenistan on a visit.
During the meeting, the sides discussed a wide range of issues of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the European Union in political-diplomatic, trade-economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres.
In this context, the importance of the upcoming high-level contacts, which serve as the main factor in the development of partnership, in particular the first summit in the “Central Asia-EU” format, was emphasized. In this regard, the preparations to the Ministerial meeting “Central Asia – EU” in Ashgabat were also considered.
The sides discussed the possibilities of expanding the legal framework for cooperation, noted the effectiveness of joint mechanisms, including the Joint Committee “Turkmenistan-EU”, Inter-parliamentary Dialogue, Human Rights Dialogue and others.
Special attention was paid to the advancement of practical cooperation of socio-economic nature. The sides considered collaboration issues on the development of trade relations, transport connectivity, energy security, innovation and investment activities. In this regard, they exchanged views on the implementation of the EU “Global Gateway” initiative.
The sides reviewed existing and prospective specialized projects and programs, as well as the issues of involving EU expertise in the process of Turkmenistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
In addition, the diplomats discussed joint work in the field of maintaining environmental safety, reducing methane emissions and renewable energy sources. Opportunities for further development of cooperation in the field of education and science were also discussed.