A European Union delegation is meeting in Uzbekistan with Uzbek officials about the human rights situation in that country stemming from violent events in Andijon two years ago. The talks are going forward in Tashkent under a cloak of silence from both the European Union and the Uzbek government.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner says positive changes have taken place in Turkmenistan since the December 2006 death of president Saparmurat Niyazov.

It is generally agreed that the road to democracy can be rocky and winding. Kyrgyzstan, located in the heart of Asia and surrounded by authoritarian states, has had many problems in its attempts to establish democracy. Today there was another example of how complicated the democratic process can be.

A high-level European Union delegation held meetings in Kazakhstan with representatives from the foreign ministries of the five Central Asian states in an effort to get energy resources sent toward EU countries and to press the Central Asian countries to improve their human rights records.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today called on the European Union to build stronger ties with Central Asia. Steinmeier made his comments after talks with senior foreign ministry officials from the five Central Asian states in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

The secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, is in Washington this week, meeting with legislators and White House officials about the continuing importance of the OSCE's work in the field of "transformational democracy." He spoke with RFE/RL correspondent Heather Maher.

An international human rights watchdog has warned that rights violations reminiscent of the Soviet era are reappearing in some Eastern European and Central Asian countries.

A high-level EU delegation is scheduled to discuss enhanced cooperation during talks with Central Asian foreign ministers in Kazakhstan's capital Almaty on March 27.