Chancellor Scholz begins Central Asia tour with focus on migration and energy

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is heading to Central Asia for a three-day trip on Sunday, with his first stop in Uzbekistan for talks on the migration and other issues.
Scholz is due to reach Samarkand on Sunday afternoon where he is to sign several agreements with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, including a migration agreement to facilitate the immigration of Uzbek skilled workers to Germany and the repatriation of Uzbeks required to leave Germany to their homeland.
He is then due to head to Kazakhstan, the largest and economically strongest country in the region, on Monday and Tuesday, where he is to attend a summit meeting is planned there with all five former Soviet republics in the region, all heavily influenced by their power house neighbours Russia and China.
Scholz aims to expand relations with these countries and entered into a strategic partnership with them last year, covering the economy, energy, climate and the environment.
In Kazakhstan, his talks are set to focus on oil and gas supplies to Germany and also on sanctions on Russia as Kazakhstan has been accused of enabling these sanctions to be circumvented.