On May 1 of this year, ISRS hosted a meeting between the Deputy Director of the Institute, Bakhtiyor Mustafayev, with the Head of the OSCE Project Coordinator's Office in Uzbekistan, Antti Karttunen, and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland, Ilkka Räisänen.

During the talks, an exchange of views took place on current issues of Uzbek-Finnish cooperation, as well as prospects for interaction between Uzbekistan and the OSCE in the context of Finland's chairmanship of the Organization in 2025.

The participants of the meeting unanimously noted the stable positive dynamics in relations between Uzbekistan and Finland in recent years. It was especially emphasized that the effective cooperation mechanisms created at the parliamentary, governmental and sectoral levels form a solid basis for further deepening the multifaceted partnership between the two countries.

Particular attention was paid to promising areas of cooperation. The interlocutors noted that cooperation in such areas as education, green energy, climate change and industrial cooperation will contribute to the expansion and deepening of bilateral ties.

Finnish Ambassador Ilkka Räisänen highly appreciated the regional policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan aimed at strengthening stability and economic integration in Central Asia. During the discussion, he also emphasized the importance of establishing cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and the Nordic Council.

The central focus of the talks was the discussion of prospects for cooperation between Uzbekistan and the OSCE. The parties examined in detail the plan of joint activities for 2025, identifying priority areas of interaction for joint work. In this context, the importance of using the Organization's platform to strengthen multilateral dialogue on pressing regional issues was emphasized.

At the end of the meeting, the parties expressed mutual interest in strengthening bilateral cooperation between Uzbekistan and Finland, as well as in developing interaction with the OSCE. Readiness to implement joint projects and initiatives was confirmed, which will contribute to the expansion of partnership at the bilateral and multilateral levels.