Timon Ostermeier and Eldaniz Gusseinov
Much has changed for European governments and businesses alike since Russia decided to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, attention has shifted to Central Asia, to the delight of Central Asian leaders, who have received invitations to European capitals, Brussels, and welcomed to the region high-ranking Western officials seeking to strengthen and explore new economic or political ties.
These Western officials barely conceal that they do not come for horse milk or yurts – but to reap low-hanging geopolitical fruits while planting geoeconomic seeds for the future. The office of Frank-Walter Steinmeier, president of Germany, distributed a press release ahead of his visit to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan last summer that read: “The President’s travels underline the geopolitical significance of Central Asia. In this difficult neighborhood to Russia and China, he signals Germany’s partnership to the Central Asian states.”
After Vladimir Putin decided to send troops toward Kyiv in 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a speech in the German Bundestag where he described the impact with a term that stuck with political analysts at home and abroad. The word “Zeitenwende,” German for “change of times” or “watershed moment,” has since been associated with high expectations that Germany will change its foreign and security policy drastically, and the German government has come under strong criticism for not living up to these expectations.
No comments:
Post a Comment