EU must create new energy ties with Central Asia: Germany

(ASTANA) - The European Union must build stronger energy ties with ex-Soviet Central Asia, German Foreign Minister Franz-Walter Steinmeier told ministers from the region at a meeting here on Wednesday.

"The policy of the EU is not only to diversify the countries of origin but also transit countries" responsible for shipping energy supplies to the EU, Steinmeier said.

"It is therefore necessary to build up contacts with Central Asia," he told the meeting in Kazakhstan's capital, attended by the Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek foreign ministers as well as the Turkmen deputy foreign minister and EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

EU leaders have become increasingly concerned at their dependence on Russia for energy, particularly natural gas, after a series of cut-offs of pipeline supplies from Russia in the last year-and-a-half.

Central Asia holds five percent of world energy resources, making it an obvious partner for the EU, Steinmeier said.

He said that both the EU and the Central Asian countries were interested in the creation of a formal EU strategy on Central Asia during the current Germany presidency of the EU.

This would include democratization efforts in the region, he said.

But there were cautionary words on the latter from Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov, whose country is the subject of EU sanctions after a violent 2005 crackdown.

Norov warned against "interference in domestic affairs" and added "We don't have to justify ourselves. We are open to bilateral relations in this respect."

Washington has led efforts to open new routes for bringing oil and gas from Central Asia to international markets without going through Russia, the region's Soviet-era power broker, but these efforts have irritated Moscow.