EU-Central Asia cooperation is spotlight of Bled Strategic Forum 2025

Organized by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia, the forum is one of the leading international conferences in Central and Southeast Europe. The main theme of BSF 2025, “A Runaway World,” reflects the multiple crises of our time, including geopolitical tensions, economic upheavals, social inequality, and the weakening of international institutions.

During the forum, Ambassador Vassilenko addressed the panel session titled “The New Centrality of Central Asia,” which highlighted the region’s growing importance and its strategic significance in strengthening global dialogue and building a more resilient world order.

In his remarks, the Kazakh diplomat presented a vision of Central Asia as a region that is transforming from a passive transit zone into an active and constructive player on the world stage. The countries of Central Asia speak with a “collective, confident and constructive voice,” based on a new level of political maturity and trust.

As noted, cooperation between the region’s states is institutionalized and result-oriented, and its strategic contribution is expressed in the words of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kazakhstan: “I am convinced that the time has come to position Central Asia not only as a link between Asia and Europe, but also as a separate regional actor in international relations, capable of becoming a new center of global gravity.”

The panel session was attended by Deputy foreign ministers of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, Mahri Bashimova and Muzaffarbek Madrakhimov, EU Special Representative for Central Asia, Eduards Stiprais, and Head of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, Aleška Simkić. Together, the panelists presented a comprehensive view on the state and prospects of cooperation between Central Asia and the EU in the fields of transport and logistics, critical raw materials development, water resource management, digitalization, etc. The leitmotif of the panel was that the time has come for practical work to substantively fill the strategic partnership between the two regions.

As part of the forum, the Kazakh delegation held a series of bilateral meetings with forum participants aimed at further strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

The Bled Strategic Forum serves as a platform for strategic dialogue and the exchange of views on the most pressing global and regional challenges. The forum brings together world leaders, experts, politicians, and representatives of international organizations.

Earlier it was reported that Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gabidulla Ospankulov, held a meeting with representatives of the U.S. trade mission led by Senior Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Khurshid Choksi. The parties discussed prospects for expanding bilateral economic ties, implementing investment projects in Kazakhstan, and creating new cooperation chains involving American businesses