Expanding civil society cooperation
On 29 September 2023, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz will host the heads of state of all five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — at the Federal Chancellery. This will be the first time that the heads of state have met in this format, at the invitation of the Federal Chancellor. In addition to the meeting at the Federal Chancellery, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will receive the five presidents for a working breakfast. The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations has organised a business forum, too.
However, civil society relations with Central Asia have existed since the 1990s, in addition to politics and business.
On 20 September 2023, organisations and associations involved in a wide range of civil society activities with the countries of Central Asia met at the Federal Foreign Office for a second round table on ‘Questions and challenges in shaping civil society relations with Central Asia’, at the invitation of the West-Eastern Encounters Foundation and the Federal Association of German West-East Societies (BDWO). Discussions with political representatives, including Robin Wagener MP (Federal Government Coordinator for Inter-Societal Cooperation with the Southern Caucasus, the Republic of Moldova and Central Asia), as well as with representatives from the embassies of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and Central Asian studies experts, revealed that civil society exchange with Central Asia already exists. However, the existing opportunities are far from being utilised due to a lack of framework and funding conditions. It was emphasised that local framework conditions for civil society engagement differ greatly and that actors should always be aware of the varying understanding of ‘civil society’. Nevertheless, cooperation ranges across many areas, including democratisation, social justice, environmental protection, education and cultural exchange.
During the discussions, it became clear that the opportunities offered by the few existing town twinning partnerships are not being utilised, and that significant progress is needed in this area.
The participants emphasised this:
Simplifying visa allocation could significantly improve the awarding of scholarships, internships and student exchanges, as well as facilitating civil society exchanges.
If civil society contacts are to be further expanded, particularly to underpin the expansion of political and economic contacts, an extension of funding from the Federal Foreign Office’s PPR programme, which supports projects to expand cooperation with civil society in the Eastern Partnership countries and Russia, to Central Asia would appear to be indispensable.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s withdrawal from bilateral development cooperation in some Central Asian countries should also be reconsidered, as this would result in the termination of numerous projects.
Stiftung West-Östliche Begegnungen • Brüderstr. 13 • 10178 Berlin • E-mail: info@stiftung-woeb.de
Bundesverband Deutscher West-Ost-Gesellschaften • Friedrichstr. 176-179 • 10117 Berlin • E-mail: info@bdwo.de