Statement of head of the ISRS Center
Bakhtiyor Mustafayev
Dear Vladimir Imamovich,
Dear Minister of State, Niels Annen,
Dear regional Director of Ebert Foundation Mrs. Henriette Kiefer,
Dear participants!
First of all, let me sincerely welcome all the participants of the round table, and Express
my gratitude on behalf of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President
of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Friedrich Ebert Foundation for their assistance in organizing
and conducting today's event.
In accordance with the stated theme of the first plenary session, I would like to share
some assessments of the regional initiatives of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the role of
Germany in ensuring security and sustainable development of Central Asia.
I. During the years of independence, Uzbekistan initiated a number of major international
political initiatives, which World Community highly appreciated and supported. In particular,
thanks to the joint efforts of the countries of the region, two sides implemented the initiatives
of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which had historical significance and played a key role in
ensuring regional and international security. Among them are such initiatives as the
establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free Zone in Central Asia and the International Fund for
saving the Aral Sea. Uzbekistan's initiative to establish an International Centre to combat
terrorism within the UN structures contributed to the formation of the Committee on combating
terrorism in the UN Security Council in 2001.
To date, it is no exaggeration to say that, because of the practical implementation of the
above-mentioned initiatives, despite the presence in Central Asia of political, economic,
territorial, ethnic and environmental problems inherited after the collapse of the Sovet Union,
there was no serious tension in the region at stake when General security was at stake.
Meanwhile, the rapid changes taking place in the modern world in the context of
globalization, the growing challenges and threats, the escalation of tension in various parts of
the world require the States of the region to pay the full attention to ensuring security at the
regional level.
In these circumstances, after Shavkat Mirziyoyev was popularly elected President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, the issues of security and sustainable development in Central Asia
received a new dynamic in the country's foreign policy.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in the framework of his election program declared that our
top priority is Central Asia. Uzbekistan remains as a firm supporter of an open, benevolent and
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