Topolánek: Kaspische regio heeft genoeg grondstoffen voor EU (en)

President of the European Council Mirek Topolánek i has ended his 3-day visit to the Caspian Region where he and Minister of Industy and Trade Martin Ríman had talks with top leaders from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

Mirek Topolánek discussed questions of bilateral cooperation with the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Turkmenistan, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, and the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Heydar Aliyev. They also talked about strengthening bilateral trade and energy supplies to the EU.

The Czech Prime Minister likened one of the possibilities of more intensive cooperation, the so-called Southern Corridor, to a modern version of the silk trail and added that Central Asia should not just ensure supplies of oil and gas to Europe, but that people, goods, investments and information should flow both ways. Mirek Topolánek also underlined the importance of political cooperation and strengthening democratic principles in Central Asia.

The Presidents and representatives of the governments of the three Caspian countries showed an interest in cooperating and now await clear signals and concrete offers of cooperation from the EU. The President of the European Council confirmed that the Europeans were actually more hesitant than the Asians despite the fact that besides the EU, geographically closer trading parters of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, which are one of the world's biggest exporters of gas and oil, also have an interest in the raw materials, which are of key importance for e.g. the Nabucco project.

"If Europe hesitates, it may come last", said Mirek Topolánek and added that the Czech Presidency will seek to bring cooperation projects between the EU and the Caspian Region closer to realisation already at the European Council in Brussels in March and later also at the summit of the countries involved in the Southern Corridor in Prague.

Contact: Jirí František Potužník, Spokesman of the Prime Minister for the Czech EU Presidency Tel.: +420 224 002 497, GSM: +420 725 818 435 E-mail: potuznik.jiri.frantisek@vlada.cz