Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Nov.27 / Trend, H. Hasanov /
The European Union is ready to hold dialogue with Turkmenistan on key reforms that will support the country in realising its goals in the name of democratic, economic and social development, the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said in his letter addressed to the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov.
"I sincerely hope that future dialogue on key reforms carried out in Turkmenistan and the assistance provided by the EU institutions and EU member states will support your country in realising its goals in the name of democratic, economic and social development and improve the welfare of the Turkmen citizens," a letter published by local media says.
Mr Barroso said that Turkmenistan 'has made great efforts' for the consolidation of society, formation of the state and its development in the political and cultural spheres, as well as in the international arena.
"I am glad that the European Union contributed to this progressive self-affirmation of Turkmenistan by addressing several key challenges in carrying out political and economic reforms. The European Union will continue to maintain friendly and cooperative relations with Turkmenistan and its people," Mr Barroso said.
He believes that thanks to cooperation in the energy sector and the entry in force of the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation, 'an opportunity has been created for a deeper and closer cooperation within the EU strategy for Central Asia, where Turkmenistan's contribution is very important'.
Turkmenistan is one of the major partners in the field of energy security for the EU. In particular, the Nabucco project envisages a gas supply from the Caspian region and Middle East to the EU countries which will enable it to diversify the sources of supply of raw materials.
Turkmenistan could join this project thanks to the development to lay an undersea Trans-Caspian gas pipeline to the coast of Azerbaijan.
At the moment, Turkmen gas is exported in three ways - China, Iran and Russia. In addition to the European direction, Ashgabat attaches great importance to accelerating the project to build the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India transnational pipeline.