EU could end ban on Uzbek leaders

EU foreign ministers are set to end a visa ban on Uzbekistan’s leadership when they meet in Luxembourg next week (15-16 October).

The ban was imposed in response to the Uzbek regime’s refusal to allow an independent inquiry into the 2005 massacre in Andijan, when security forces killed several hundred unarmed protesters. The EU also imposed an arms embargo on the country.

After a first extension in November last year and another one last May, when several Uzbek top officials were struck off the list, the visa ban will automatically expire next month unless member states decide to extend it. The decision requ-ires unanimity, but a group of countries led by Germany opposes an extension, arguing that the EU needs to adjust its policy mix of sanctions and incentives after sanctions have failed to produce tangible improve-ments in Uzbekistan’s human rights record.

Germany was also the driving force behind the easing of the visa ban in May, a move which came just weeks before the EU adopted its first-ever strategy for central Asia. The document, in large parts drafted by Germany, represented a bid for influence in this strategic region believed to hold vast energy reserves.

EU diplomats were still trying to hammer out a compromise solution ahead of the foreign ministers’ meeting to accommodate countries, including the UK and the Netherlands, that oppose suspending the visa ban. Diplomats suggested that such a compromise was unlikely, however, and the visa restrictions might now simply lapse.

The likely expiration of the visa ban stands in stark contrast to another item on the ministers’ agenda, the tightening of existing sanct-ions against the military regime in Myanmar.

The EU’s move to loosen sanctions on Uzbekistan comes just as campaigning for the country’s presidency gets under way. There is little doubt about the outcome of the poll to be held in December. President Islam Karimov was re-elected in 2000 with 92% of the vote and there are no indications that this year will be much different. A suspension of the sanctions on Uzbekistan would, however, hand Karimov a propaganda victory.

EU foreign ministers are set to end a visa ban on Uzbekistan’s leadership when they meet in Luxembourg next week (15-16 October).