The Foreign Affairs Minister and OSCE Chairman Ian Borg had a meeting with a very particular dictator, yesterday, as he met Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon. Tajikistan is known to be one of the most authoritarian states in the world, being on par with North Korea in terms of surveillance, and oppression of its own people.
However, the OSCE has an office in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe where they are mostly working with the government on border surveillance. Tajikistan shares a border with Afghanistan which is brittle and vulnerable to the Taliban, smuggling groups and organised crime.
President Emomali Rahmon spent more than an hour with Ian Borg discussing the OSCE’s work with the Tajik government over its border with Afghanistan. President Rahmon showed serious concern over the vulnerability of the border and praised the OSCE’s support in combating drug smuggling networks. Apparently, synthetic drugs are also becoming increasingly popular and more voluminous in the contraband of smugglers.
Today, Ian Borg is in Kyrgystan to continue his Central Asian tour as OSCE Chairman.
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