{"id":53729,"date":"2025-10-22T07:42:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T07:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=53729"},"modified":"2025-10-22T07:42:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T07:42:17","slug":"eu-readies-new-trade-routes-and-a-challenge-to-beijing-and-moscow-at-luxembourg-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/eu-readies-new-trade-routes-and-a-challenge-to-beijing-and-moscow-at-luxembourg-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Readies New Trade Routes – And A Challenge To Beijing And Moscow – At Luxembourg Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Reid Standish + Rikard Jozwiak and Mukhtar Senggirbay for Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The European Union kicked off a high-level summit with top officials from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and other neighboring countries on October 20 as the bloc aims to make new inroads in a region where China and Russia wield longstanding influence.<\/p>\n

At the top of the agenda is the Trans Caspian Transport Corridor \u2013 also known as\u00a0the Middle Corridor<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 an emerging 6,500-kilometer-long trade route that connects China to Europe through Central Asia and the Caucasus by bypassing Russia.<\/p>\n

The gathering in Luxembourg is \u201cspecifically focused on the issue of establishing a well-functioning so-called Middle Corridor stretching across the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea towards Central Asia,\u201d Eduards Stiprais, the EU\u2019s special representative for Central Asia, told RFE\/RL in an interview.<\/p>\n

The summit is something of a watershed for the 27-member EU as it looks to grow its regional standing at a time when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shifted the geopolitical balance and China’s economic expansion has left the region more integrated with Beijing.<\/p>\n

According to a draft program for the summit seen by RFE\/RL, the EU is hosting ministers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Georgia was also invited but declined to attend.<\/p>\n

The aim of the summit is to launch a new regular format for diplomatic engagement focused on connectivity, trade, digital development, and energy around the Black Sea and the broader region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn response to the evolving geopolitical landscape, the EU is actively advancing cross-regional cooperation to foster stability, resilience, and prosperity,\u201d the document states, which goes on to say that diversifying trade routes will \u201ccreate economic opportunities\u201d and \u201cultimately enhance regional security and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stiprais says that the meeting will look to build on past summits and will focus on how best to use funds raised through the Global Gateway, the EU’s infrastructure partnership plan launched in 2021 that’s seen as an alternative to China’s worldwide Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe money is there,\u201d he said. \u201cThe issues are where we need some political decisions and agreements on how to proceed, because we are speaking about crossing several borders and those are countries which over the previous 30 years were very much focused on asserting their sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can The EU Deliver On The Middle Corridor?<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

At a much-lauded\u00a0inaugural EU-Central Asia summit<\/strong>\u00a0in April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa met with the region\u2019s five presidents and announced an additional 12-billion-euro ($14 billion) investment in the Global Gateway to kick-start a new digital and infrastructural development project.<\/p>\n

Central Asian European Union Leaders Ready to\u00a0Address Common Security Challenges – Express Concern over Situation in Afghanistan<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n