On Tuesday, November 22, French President Emmanuel Macron received his Uzbek counterpart Chavkat Mirzioev, who was behind a relative openness in his Central Asian country, and promised to "
work
" alongside him.
After a lunch at the Élysée, the two leaders visited at length, accompanied by their wives, two exhibitions which open their doors on Wednesday in Paris: "
Splendours of the oases of Uzbekistan
", at the Louvre, and "
On the roads of Samarkand, Wonders of silk and gold
”, at the Arab World Institute.
Read alsoWith the war in Ukraine, will Russia lose Central Asia?
“
I am very happy, here, in this region which can be a region of tensions, to show that it was first of all a region of exchanges and creation.
And it is the will that you carry.
It is alongside this will that France will work
, ”said Emmanuel Macron to his counterpart, greeting him with a long hug.
Chavkat Mirzioev invited him to go to the "
new Uzbekistan
".
“
We will come
,” replied the French president.
In a joint statement, the leaders of the two countries, which celebrate the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year, "
underscored the positive prospects
" opened up by "
the modernization reforms undertaken by Uzbekistan and its commitment to good relations neighborhood in Central Asia
”.
The visit gave rise to the signing of around ten cooperation agreements (civil service, fight against corruption, education, heritage, civil aviation).
Economic agreements have also been concluded “
in the fields of energy, water management, transport and tourism
”.
France and Uzbekistan "
recalled their attachment to conflict resolution through dialogue, in full respect of international law and the United Nations Charter
", according to the text.
Uzbekistan, between China, Russia and the West
While the Élysée stressed that the meeting took place "
in a context of profound destabilization caused by the war in Ukraine, requiring in-depth dialogue between France and its partners in Central Asia
", this conflict in particular is not mentioned. in the joint statement.
Uzbekistan hosted in mid-September in Samarkand, a key stage on the ancient Silk Road, a regional summit in the presence of the Chinese and Russian presidents, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, who had taken on a frontal appearance against the 'West.
After more than a quarter of a century spent under a leaden screed, Uzbekistan has experienced relative openness since the death in 2016 of the brutal Islam Karimov.
Chavkat Mirzioev, Prime Minister under Karimov, launched the first liberal reforms in this former Soviet republic of 34 million inhabitants, the most populous country in Central Asia.
