The ASEM summit in Mongolia was overshadowed by the attack in Nice and the attempted military coup in Turkey. The fight against terrorism was also on the agenda – unfortunately as Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed in Ulan Bator "partly in response to recent events". At the start of the summit, participants observed a one-minute silence for the victims of the attack in Nice.

ASEM: 60 per cent of the world population

Angela Merkel was in Ulan Bator to attend the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). "ASEM has now been in existence for 20 years. Together we represent 60 per cent of the world’s population. Basically we bring together all the countries that together make up the Eurasian land mass," she underscored on Friday.

ASEM summit participants include the 28 member states of the EU, Switzerland and Norway, and 21 Asian states. The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also attended, along with ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh.

The dialogue embraces many practical matters of common interest. In addition to the fight against terrorism, "Matters such as implementing the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are on the table," stressed Angela Merkel.

Economic and infrastructure-related matters also figure prominently when line ministers meet. "It is also a question of establishing links between people. We have heard from both representatives of the business community and youth representatives about their efforts to establish cooperation," reported Angela Merkel.

During bilateral talks, the Chancellor also met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. "We discussed the aspects of the Minsk agreements once again and both sides demonstrated their determination to implement the agreements as swiftly as possible," she declared.

ASEM summit in Ulan Bator

After the Mongolian President, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, officially welcomed participants, two plenary sessions of the participating states took place. Firstly participants took stock of the twenty years of cooperation within the framework of ASEM and agreed on the direction to be taken in future. They then went on to discuss ASEM’s contribution to enhanced connectivity between the two continents and global challenges such as climate change.

ASEM, the forum for dialogue and cooperation between Europe and Asia, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its founding this year. Since 1996, the heads of state and government of the 53 ASEM member states have met once every two years, with the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). At the summit meetings they lay down the priorities of ASEM. The summit meeting is held alternately in Asia and in Europe. The last summit was held in Milan in 2014. The joint statements issued by ASEM are not binding.

Chancellor Angela Merkel in Central Asia

Thursday, 14 July 2016

Chancellor Angela Merkel in Central Asia

Thursday, 14 July 2016

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Mastering challenges together

On the second day of the summit there was an informal exchange of views on ways of strengthening the three pillars of ASEM: political, economic and sociocultural cooperation. The focus is also on migration and human rights.

Two documents were to be signed in Ulan Bator: firstly a statement of the ASEM Chair, which this year is held by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. During the summit the Chancellor also had the opportunity to conduct bilateral talks.

From a German point of view, security and energy issues are the most important aspects of trans-Eurasian relations. One of the central issues for Germany is hostilities in the Middle East, with fighting in Syria and Iraq, as well as the concomitant rise in the number of refugees heading for Europe.

Energy security

Securing energy supplies is also a central concern of Germany in talks with Asian partner countries. The informal nature of ASEM offers good opportunities to intensify relations with countries in the region.

With its move to put its energy supplies on a more sustainable footing, known as the energy shift, and the planned end of the use of nuclear power, Germany has set itself ambitious goals. In the medium term, however, it will continue to need to import energy and gas from Eastern Europe and Asia – against the background of the conflict in Ukraine, which is an important transit state for energy supplies.

Programme in Kyrgyzstan

During the first stop on her Central Asian trip, the Chancellor met Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev. With a view to closer relations between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union with Russia she stressed, "There is still a lot of work to be done, but in principle I am in favour." If Kyrgyzstan desires closer relations with the European Union she would support political cooperation and links, said Angela Merkel following talks with the Kyrgyz President.

It is also important, she said, for Germany and Kyrgyzstan to maintain good relations. "We have very specific projects." They include education and development cooperation, but also the attempt to foster economic cooperation at company level.

President Almazbek Atambayev advocated a common economic zone from Lisbon in the west of the EU to Vladivostok in the east of Russia. He called for an end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict which would enable the EU to lift sanctions on Russia.

In Bishkek the Chancellor also met with the Speaker of the Kyrgyz Parliament Chynybai Tursunbekov and members of parliament, as well as attending a meeting with representatives of civil society and visiting a training project, which is part of the Professional Education and Vocational Training in Central Asia Programme currently being implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) with its partners at the Kyrgyz State Technical University.

German-Kyrgyz relations have historically been shaped by the German minority in Kyrgyzstan. The first settlements of German Mennonites date back to the 19th century. The Federal Government offers support to the members of the German minority, especially in the social, cultural and education sectors. The framework declaration adopted by independent Kyrgyzstan and the Federal Republic of Germany on 4 July 1992 marked the start of intensive cooperation between the two countries. In the same year, a German diplomatic mission was opened in Kyrgyzstan.