EU might soften Uzbekistan sanctions
The European Union is looking into whether decreasing the intensity of sanctions on Uzbekistan could be in it’s interest. The sanctions were imposed after severe human right violations during a massacre in Andijan in May this year. Uzbekistan is sitting on large reserves of of natural gas, though some experts say the total amount is exaggerated. Current sanctions include an arms embargo, a visa ban on top Uzbek officials and freezing of high-level bilateral talks. The sanctions automatically expire on 17 November 2006.
Uzbekistan has not met any of the conditions stipulated in last year’s EU resolution - such as setting up an independent inquiry into the shooting of at least 180 civilians in Andijan - with European politicians and NGOs agreeing that human rights abuses have worsened in the past 18 months.
But Germany is suggesting cutting sanctions to an arms embargo only, EU diplomats say, after reports from the seven EU embassies in Tashkent said sanctions have achieved nothing except pushing Uzbekistan closer to Russia.
“The sanctions would probably be dropped sooner or later with no political gain for the EU, but now there is still an opportunity to sell them for some kind of closer cooperation,” one EU official said. “Everybody wants to be politically correct, but the [German] calculus is quite persuasive.”
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Administrator @ November 2, 2006