Central Asia
Welcome to Kyrgyzstan, Angela!
From Berlin to Bishkek: Angela Merkel has for the first time attended a German head of government of Kyrgyzstan. A great gesture for the small Central Asian country embarked on a democratic course
Why does the Chancellor of Germany to Kyrgyzstan? For the nearly six million inhabitants of the Central Asian country waiting for Angela Merkel’s was so surprising that in the media, a rumor made the rounds that Germany wanted to build in Kyrgyzstan a refugee camp.
“If Mrs Merkel makes on the way to Ulan Bator in Bishkek, this is a gesture to say: We take you to be true,” explains Beate Eschment, editor of the scientific publication “Central Asia-analysis”.
Merkel’s eintätgiger visit on Thursday in Kyrgyzstan was a stopover on the way to the Asia-Europe summit that begins on Friday in the Mongolian capital. And a symbolic gesture.
“A gesture can be very important,” says Eschment. “And it is a feeling of self-worth. It is proud that the Chancellor was there.” The visit strength, in turn, the President and the current government.
Beate Eschment is a Central Asia expert and editor of the “Central Asia-analysis”.
At their Meeting with the Kyrgyz President Almasbek Atambayev, Merkel praised the political development of the country. “We have great respect for the stand-alone way, the Kyrgyzstan since 2010,” she said in Bishkek.
The country had embarked on with his coup six years ago, a course in the direction of Western democracy, in contrast to the Central Asian neighbouring countries, which were authoritarian.
The Chancellor promised at the Meeting with the Kyrgyz President Almasbek Atambayev, that she will work for a rapprochement of Kyrgyzstan to the EU. Kyrgyzstan was joined in 2015 of the Eurasian economic Union, which Russia also belongs.
Merkel, in an interview with the President of Kyrgyzstan. The night before she was welcomed with military honors.
“We think that in Kyrgyzstan, an end to the EU sanctions against Russia for the country,” says Central Asia expert Beate Eschment. President Atambayev therefore hope to improve the relations between Russia and Europe.
Florian Copperath is a Lecturer of Robert-Bosch-Foundation in Kyrgyzstan. On-site and in the Kyrgyz press, he had experienced directly after the announcement of Angela Merkel’s visit very positive reactions. For him the visit was a strong Signal that he sees as a support of the Kyrgyz politics. “But Kyrgyzstan deserves the support,” he says, in terms of the political changes in the Ex-Soviet Republic.