First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis Akmal Saidov stated that Uzbekistan would not join any military structures, and would remain in the status of an observer state in EAEU. Fergana media outlet reported.
«We will never send our guys (abroad) to carry out any military missions, including peacekeeping ones. There will be no foreign military bases on our territory,» the media outlet quoted the vice speaker as saying.
As for integration into the Eurasian Economic Union, according to Akmal Saidov, the status of an observer country in the union is more suitable for Uzbekistan.
«I am the head of the parliamentary commission to study the possibility of Uzbekistan joining the EAEU. We have carefully studied more than a thousand different documents of this organization and came to the conclusion that today it is in the interests of the republic to maintain the observer status in the EAEU. For example, our Kazakh colleagues — their country has received very few benefits from joining the union. But, of course, I cannot vouch for this information. The Republic of Uzbekistan has fundamental principles of foreign policy, which are enshrined in the new version of the Constitution, and we will follow them,» he explained.
On October 2, 2019, the Speaker of the Russian Senate Valentina Matviyenko announced Uzbekistan’s intention to join the EAEU. Tashkent confirmed its interest in Eurasian integration, stipulating that the decision had not been made, and the process of studying the «pros and cons» of membership in the union was underway. Later, it was reported that the Republic of Uzbekistan decided to limit itself to observer status, having received it in December 2020.
