Mr President, what I have to say supplements what my colleague Mr Bowis said. We are both members of the delegation on Central Asia, and it is partly thanks to him and his great commitment that we are able to put this kind of issue back on the agenda. I should like to begin with Turkmenistan. I am still rapporteur for a new cooperation agreement between the EU and Turkmenistan. Parliament, along with the Commission, has stated that it does not actually want to conclude that agreement, nor does it want to discuss it. There is every reason for this. As Mr Bowis and other fellow Members have already stated, it is perfectly clear, looking at the current situation, that that regime is unacceptable. At the same time, however, we have to think about what we can do for the people of Turkmenistan. We believe that Parliament must make an urgent appeal for the Red Cross to be able to visit the prisoners again in any event, for us to be able to resume good contact with the NGOs, and for those NGOs to have some freedom once again in those countries. We must stand up for the people – including politicians and human rights activists – who are currently incarcerated. We must stand up for freedom of belief. It is too absurd for words that only a certain form of Islam, and only the Orthodox Church, still have some degree of freedom, or in any event still enjoy a measure of protection, while all the other groups, both Christian and non-Christian, lack that protection. This is unacceptable, because people and religion belong together. With regard to a number of the other countries mentioned, I should like to point out that, in spring of this year, we also discussed a resolution on Kazakhstan. That led to intensive talks between our delegation and parliamentary delegations from Kazakhstan, and improvements were introduced on a number of items. We are still finding ourselves disappointed on many counts, however: legal procedures, freedom of the press, and also freedom of organisation. I hope that these first steps that Kazakhstan has made in the right direction are not the last, but instead that further pressure, including on the part of the European Union, will lead to improvements in the situation in that country. I wish to make a passionate plea for a new cooperation agreement with Tajikistan. Fortunately, the Commission is currently preparing an agreement for that country, too, which is an extremely good thing, because we must keep close to these countries. Mr Bowis has already described the situation in Uzbekistan, and I have nothing to add. That leaves Kyrgyzstan. The present resolution rightly levels a number of criticisms, but, at the same time, we have here a country that deserves our warm support, because it is trying, with ups and downs, to build a democracy, despite having no resources and no oil. There should be criticism where criticism is due, but, even more importantly, support where support is due. I also wish to express to the Commission my hope that, in coming years, when it comes to Central Asia, the European Union will perhaps give a little extra support to a country such as this, in particular, which has no oil and no resources.

Political group: PPE-DE