The Council of the European Union (EU) has appointed Mr Eduards Stiprais as the new EU Special Representative for Central Asia. Stiprais will take up his duties on 1 March 2025 with an initial mandate of two years, succeeding Terhi Hakala.
According to the European Council, the task of the new Special Representative will be to promote relations between the EU and the countries of Central Asia on the basis of common values, contribute to strengthening the stability of and cooperation between the countries in the region, and to strengthening democracy, the rule of law, good governance and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Stiprais is a Latvian diplomat with extensive experience. He served as Permanent Representative of Latvia to the EU, and as Deputy State Secretary–Political Director of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 2016 and 2020, he was Head of EU Delegation to Uzbekistan, and he also served as Ambassador of Latvia to the United Kingdom and to France.
The European Council earlier announced that the first-ever EU-Central Asia summit will take place in Uzbekistan on 3-4 April 2025. It will be attended by European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
According to the European Council, during the summit, the EU will affirm its commitment to scale up cooperation with Central Asia in areas of mutual interests, which include transport and digital connectivity in the region and with the EU, critical raw materials, economic and security cooperation, and energy transition.
