President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the European Union to Turkmenistan, Diego Ruiz Alonso, who presented his credentials to the President of Turkmenistan.Taking the opportunity, the diplomat expressed deep gratitude for the warm welcome and conveyed the greetings from President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, confirming the interest of the European countries in further strengthening the fruitful cooperation with Turkmenistan.
Welcoming the guest and congratulating him on his appointment, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov underlined that the European vector was one of the key directions of the foreign policy strategy of our country.
Conveying the greetings to the EU leadership, the President of Turkmenistan expressed satisfaction with the status of relations between Turkmenistan and the EU that steadily develop on the bilateral and multilateral basis.
During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the aspects of intensifying partnership in a number of key areas, including political, economic, legal, humanitarian and environmental spheres.In this regard, a significant role is assigned to the Representative Office of the European Union in Turkmenistan, the main goal of which is to give impetus to the development of cooperation, to make it more efficient and effective, and in general, to promote the successful implementation of the new EU Strategy for Central Asia.
The meeting participants put the special emphasis on the theme of strengthening peace, stability and security, countering global threats and challenges of our time.The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the European Union to Turkmenistan emphasized that the European Union highly appreciated and supported the creative international initiatives put forward by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov aimed at developing balanced solutions on the important issues, creating optimal conditions for sustainable development on a regional and global scale.
In this context, the UN Resolution on declaring 2021 the International Year of Peace and Trust, adopted on the proposal of the Turkmen side, acquires a special meaning.Particular attention was placed on the formation of new international transport routes on the Eurasian continent.
In this regard, it was underlined that a qualitatively new direction - transport diplomacy, one of the founders of which was our country, firmly established in global cooperation.Ensuring energy security, diversification of energy supplies to the world markets and settlement of the situation in Afghanistan were identified as priority aspects of cooperation.
Construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, laying of power lines and fiber-optic communication along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan route, modernization of the railway and road network that have become a part of the Lazurit transit and transport corridor will contribute to addressing the social and humanitarian issues, creating new prospects for the development of fruitful cooperation in the region.
The parties reaffirmed the mutual desire to strengthen effective partnerships in such strategic areas as environmental protection, climate change adaptation, economic diversification and digitalization, support for private sector, water resources management, democratization of society, ensuring human rights, investing the youth among others.
The sides highlighted the importance of expanding cooperation in the legal sphere, taking into account the democratic reforms carried out in our country, including the work on establishing the two-chamber parliament.
The issues of preparation for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Turkmenistan's permanent neutrality were discussed.The high-level international conference "The Policy of Neutrality and its importance in ensuring international peace, security and sustainable development" will be held in Ashgabat on December 12 this year.
The diplomat said that the European Union counted on the effective cooperation with Turkmenistan.Thanking for the kind words, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed confidence in building up the long-term fruitful partnership with the European community based on the principles of mutual respect and constructiveness.