Today's (23 November) annual gathering in Brussels between the EU's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, and her five Central Asian counterparts takes place in a context of both hope and fear.
There's hope of greater political will to leave some of the region's most egregious violations behind.
But there's also fear, because repressive policies persist, and uncontested by the EU.
It's time for the EU to stop courting unaccountable oppressive leaders, and instead bank on the ...
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Matthew is EUobserver's Opinion Editor. He joined EUobserver in June 2018. Previously he worked as a reporter for The Guardian in London, and as editor for AFP in Paris and DPA in Berlin.