Uzbekistan ranked 147th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, rising by one position compared to 2025. The state of press freedom in the country is described as “very serious.” The country’s overall score slightly declined — to 34.95 compared to 35.24 a year earlier, indicating …
The regional ecological summit in Astana, which began on April 22, became a platform for developing a unified survival strategy for Central Asia amid the climate crisis. The speeches of the presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the region’s largest economies, signaled a shift from declarations to the formation of concrete regional institutions. Value framework and …
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a law that fundamentally changes the rules of the game in Uzbekistan’s digital sector (the full text of the signed law in Uzbek is attached below). The new version of Article 27¹ of the Law “On Personal Data” eliminates legal conflicts that for years blocked the entry of the world’s …
On September 7, 2022, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held a press conference for 10 Central Asian journalists, including myself. This is the statement he made before answering journalists’ questions. I am printing the transcript of his speech as it is, without cuts. Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba: Many citizens of your countries know Ukrainians, have visited …
The online conference of Ukraine’s then Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba with Central Asian journalists took place on September 7, 2022. Kyrgyz journalist Adil Turdukulov asked Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba about the indifferent attitude (“our authorities pretend it does not concern them”) of Central Asian leaders toward the war in Ukraine and its consequences. …
The online conference of Ukraine’s then Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba with Central Asian journalists took place on September 7, 2022. Journalist Shokir Sharipov asked what the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, would have done to steer events (“Many of us living in Central Asia watch with bitterness what is happening …
The fourth and final part of the report on the online conference of Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba with Central Asian journalists on September 7, 2022. Questions from Kazakh journalist Karlygash Ezhenova concerned information circulating online that “Putin had instructed the development of a revanchist invasion plan, with Moldova, Georgia, or Kazakhstan named …
On December 23, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had held two telephone conversations — with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. According to the American leader, the talks were “wonderful” and focused on issues of peace, trade, and expanding cooperation between the countries. “We discussed the importance of …
A credit agreement to finance the construction project of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway was signed in Bishkek on December 16, 2025. The signing ceremony was attended by Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic — Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry Bakyt Torobaev. The agreement was concluded between LLC “China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan …
Although the construction of a channel to divert part of the flow of Siberian rivers to Central Asia was canceled by a decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU more than 35 years ago, discussions about the channel continue today. This grandiose project still concerns irrigators, scientists, and politicians, so I …