On April 16 in Brussels, Belgium, the EU-Central Asia Drug Dialogue has been conducted under the chairmanship of Poland – regular annual dialogue aiming to strengthen international cooperation, exchange views and support the proper development of drug policies. CADAP supported the participation in the Dialogue of delegations from all 5 Central Asian countries among the representatives of relevant state institutions, whose activities include countering drug smuggling and developing state policy in the field of drugs.
EU side was represented by EU Member States and representatives of the EU institutions and agencies such
as the European Commission, the European Union Drug Agency, EUROPOL, the European External Action
Service and General Secretariat of the Council of Europe.
The European Union provided an update on drug policy and drugs situation in the EU, including on the
evaluation of the implementation of the EU Drugs Strategy and Action Plan. It was followed by an update on
drugs policy development and drugs situation in Central Asia countries, with recent developments and trends
addressing drug demand reduction and drug supply. Finally, such emerging challenges as trafficking of
opiates and amphetamine-type stimulants through Afghanistan and Central Asia and new psychoactive
substances and synthetic drugs in Central Asia were discussed in terms of legislation, best practices and
action to be taken.
“We need to continue to invest in monitoring especially because the market is changing so fast” said Danilo
Ballota from European Drug Agency.
Expert dialogues on drugs are the fundamental part of the EU Drugs Strategy 2021-2025 that strongly
supports information sharing on the strategies, aims and relevant initiatives through the dialogues on drugs
with international partners, both at regional and bilateral level. Dialogues are typically based on multilateral
partnership and cooperation with representatives of various regions or EU long-term partners. The goal is to
address the experts from the countries outside of the EU and exchange views concerning the drug situation,
both at regional and international level.
