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Turkmenistan's Ambassador to Belgium Sapar Palvanov held an online meeting with the director of the LEICA (Law Enforcement in Central Asia) project, a European Union program to assist Central Asian countries in strengthening the skills of law enforcement agencies, Genael Le Breton. The regional director of the project Giorgi Beridze also joined the videoconference.

During the meeting, the Turkmen envoy voiced proposals to enhance cooperation between Turkmenistan and its partners within the framework of the mentioned project and listed the areas of cooperation of interest to the Turkmen side.

In particular, the Ambassador made a proposal to hold a regional seminar in Ashgabat through LEICA, during which the parties could exchange experience and knowledge in the field of combating terrorism. In this context, the role of the Plan being developed in Turkmenistan to intensify international cooperation in combating terrorism for 2023-2025, which was reported at a Cabinet meeting last week by Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, was noted.

The Ambassador called on LEICA representatives to participate in the implementation of the activities that will be included in the said document, since the Plan will involve the intensification of partnership, including with the EU.

The parties discussed the details and the program of the planned visit of the LEICA project managers to Turkmenistan in October this year, including meetings with the country's law enforcement agencies.

Genael Le Breton welcomed the participation of representatives of law enforcement agencies of Turkmenistan in seminars and study visits within the framework of the LEICA program. It was mentioned about the participation of Turkmen representatives in the 3rd meeting of the Steering Committee of the project, which was held in Samarkand in June this year. Mr. Le Breton noted the possibility of organizing a regional event in Ashgabat next year in conjunction with the BOMCA program - a project to assist Central Asian countries in border management.

The possibility of developing an Interaction Plan within the framework of the LEICA project, which would act as a "roadmap" for the implementation of both bilateral and regional events by Turkmenistan and LEICA in the coming months, was also discussed. The project Director expressed readiness to consider the proposals of the Turkmen side on the draft of the proposed Action Plan.

In conclusion, the parties reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening regional and bilateral partnership.

The LEICA project, which aims to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies in Central Asia with the intention of improving security, both at the national and regional levels, is managed by the EU Commission through a consortium consisting of the French CIVIPOL and the Slovak ISEMI, with the support of Interpol. The program was launched on September 1, 2020, it consists of four phases and is designed for 4 years.

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Photo: provided by the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Belgium