Stabilising the situation in Afghanistan and its reconstruction are in the common interests of the Central Asian countries and the European Union, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has said.

Speaking in an interview with Euronews released Tuesday, Mirziyoyev mentioned that his country’s approach to Afghanistan has always been pragmatic and strategically oriented toward the long term.

“We have never isolated or turned away from our neighbour. We have always believed that Afghanistan’s development is impossible without constructive engagement with neighbouring countries, including Uzbekistan as its closest and most important partner,” he said.

Mirziyoyev said that many who initially disagreed with Uzbekistan’s policy on Afghanistan are now compelled to recognize its correctness and inevitability.

The Uzbek leader also criticized the former regime in Afghanistan for its inability to establish full control over the country’s territory, its unwillingness to engage in dialogue with the opposition, its lack of intent to form an inclusive government. He added that widespread corruption permeated all levels of the former administration.

“The current leadership has managed to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan and redirect its resources toward infrastructure development, including airports, domestic railway networks, and water and energy facilities, as well as toward reducing opium cultivation,” he said.

Mirziyoyev said that Afghanistan should be viewed through “the lens of emerging strategic opportunities.”

“It is critically important to integrate Afghanistan into global economic processes, including through the implementation of infrastructure projects on its territory,” he said.

Expressing readiness to jointly work with the European Union on Afghanistan, he said that the primary task at this stage is to continue to providing assistance in the field of education.

“I am convinced that stabilising the situation in Afghanistan and its reconstruction are in the common interests of the Central Asian countries and the European Union,” he said.

The Sofia City Prosecution Office brought five people to trial for participation in an organized criminal group, smuggling and the murder of 18 Afghan citizens, its press centre said on Tuesday. 

On February 17, 2023, the bodies of 18 illegal migrants, who had apparently suffocated to death, were found on a truck near the village of Lokorsko (16 km north of Sofia). 

The indictment states that 52 Afghans were loaded into a truck from the area of the village of Zidarovo, Burgas Region, Bulgarian News Agency reported.

According to the prosecution, two of the defendants saw that the Afghans could not breathe normally because they were pressed tightly together, but they closed the lids of the containers, fastened their seat belts and drove off.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the United States government will not rest until all Americans detained in Afghanistan are brought home.

“The United States is pleased to welcome home Faye Hall. President of the United States’ commitment to the American people is clear — we will not rest until all Americans detained in Afghanistan, and held hostage around the world, are brought home,” Rubio wrote on X.

The news of Fay Hall’s release was announced three days ago by former US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad.

She had been reportedly detained in February.

US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told a news conference Monday that the US government’s “highest priority is the safety and security of the American people, wherever they may be.”