Russia does not want Tajikistan to get closer to the West

During his official visit to Tajikistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited the Russian-Tajik Slavic University and delivered a lecture for young diplomats.

In his lecture, Lavrov criticized Western policies and made it clear to the Tajik authorities that Russia does not wish for the country to move closer to the West.

Lavrov also urged the authorities of Tajikistan and Central Asian countries not to allow Western geopolitical engineers to implement “development assistance programs that are in fact instruments of control and reformatting of the political and economic landscape.”

“We call on our friends to critically assess the cooperation schemes in the military field and training programs for law enforcement personnel imposed by Western countries,” Lavrov emphasized.  

Despite the seriousness of the situation regarding the rights of labor migrants in Russia, who have faced persecution and abuse by Russian law enforcement agencies in recent weeks, this issue was not a key topic during meetings between Tajik authorities and Lavrov. Lavrov focused primarily on the issue of the country’s accession to the EAEU and warned of threats from the West and ISIS in Afghanistan.

Against the backdrop of numerous reports of detentions, beatings, and the removal of Tajik labor migrants to unknown locations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Tajikistan for a two-day official visit and met with the country’s top leadership.