European Union foreign ministers have convened in Brussels to discuss the future of the bloc's sanctions against Uzbekistan, imposed after a government crackdown on protesters two years ago. Today's debate comes after ambassadors failed to thrash out a deal last week.
EU diplomats tell RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent that efforts by current EU President Germany to ease the sanctions have run into stiff opposition from most other EU member states.
The fate of a first-ever unified EU strategy for Central Asia could also hang in the balance at today's meeting. That German-orchestrated strategy is slated for debate at the EU's June summit, and Uzbekistan's cooperation could be crucial to its success.
Visa Ban For Top Officials
The EU imposed limited sanctions on Tashkent in the wake of mass killings by Uzbek security forces in Andijon in May, 2005.
Rights groups say hundreds of people were killed, though the government says 187 people died and that Islamic militants instigated the violence.
Uzbek groups abroad marked the two-year anniversary of Andijon on May 12-13.
The sanctions include a freeze on technical contacts, an arms embargo, and a visa ban on top officials linked to Andijon.
Technical contacts were resumed in late 2006. Uzbek and EU experts have twice met to discuss the Andijon events, without any tangible results, EU officials say. A human rights dialogue has also been launched, but it has been confined to a single, low-level annual meeting.
Nonetheless, EU President Germany is pressing for a further easing of the sanctions. It wants to cut the visa-ban list from 12 to eight officials. Berlin also wants EU foreign ministers to declare today -- according to an early draft of the statement -- that the bloc's "aim" is to lift the restrictions altogether if "the Uzbek government further engages constructively" on human rights.
The German stance appears to signal Berlin's willingness to drop an EU condition of an independent international inquiry into the Andijon events.
EU officials told RFE/RL last week that most member states -- led by Sweden and other northern European countries -- oppose the German plans.
They say they have no confidence in Tashkent's willingness to reform.
Anger At Uzbek President's Comments
The skeptics have also been angered by reported comments by Uzbek President Islam Karimov suggesting that many in the EU are coming around to accepting that charges against Tashkent over Andijon have been "fabricated."
German officials have repeatedly said the EU should assume a more active role in energy-rich Central Asia, where Russia and China are seen as strategic competitors.
Uzbekistan, as the region's most populous country, is key to German plans to develop a comprehensive EU strategy for the region.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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