Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 14 June 2022, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov received a delegation of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR), headed by Eoghan Murphy, who led the ODIHR Mission for the observation of the Presidential Elections of the Republic of Uzbekistan on 24 October 2021.

The current state and prospects for the development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the ODIHR were considered.

The parties noted with satisfaction that in recent years, Uzbekistan’s constructive interaction with all OSCE institutions, including the ODIHR, has significantly intensified. Full-scale missions of the Election Observation Bureau took part in the parliamentary (2019) and presidential elections (2016 and 2021).

Murphy highly appreciated the current dynamics of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the ODIHR, including in such areas as conducting expert assessments of adopted legislative acts and improving legislation in accordance with international standards.

During the conversation, an exchange of views took place on the implementation of the recommendations put forward in the Final Report of the ODIHR mission to observe the elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on October 24, 2021. The parties expressed readiness for constructive cooperation in this direction.

The ODIHR delegation was informed in detail about the priority areas of the foreign policy of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, which made it possible to create a completely new atmosphere of good neighborliness in Central Asia, large-scale democratic reforms in Uzbekistan as part of the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026.

Representatives of the ODIHR expressed interest in expanding multifaceted cooperation, including through the implementation of joint projects in various areas.