Uzbek TV
October 21

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has said that he is against the use of force in the Iraq issue. He said that it was clear that Iraq's attempt to create weapons of mass destruction had to be stopped, but the question was by what method: "It is necessary to use peaceful means as much as possible, but if they are not enough, the issue should be resolved in the manner proposed by the world's strongest country, the USA," he said. Karimov was answering questions at a joint news conference held with visiting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski after talks in Tashkent, Uzbek radio said on 21 October. The Polish leader said that the fight against terrorism must be active and "here there is no excuse". He hoped for close cooperation in future with Uzbekistan, including in the military field, because "there will be many international projects in which we will take part together".

[Karimov, in Russian] Let me once again express my high respect for President Kwasniewski and all the delegation members, and express my high respect for the Polish people and the Polish state. Our talks have just ended, both in narrow format and together with the official delegations. I would like to note that today we have efficiently used the time spared and even made you wait and I hope you will correctly understand us. Sorry about that, but the topics and the list of questions we discussed were most acute and I think both sides are satisfied with the exchange of views and talks. I must say that we have discussed a wide range of issues, both bilateral ones and those of security in the region, and some international problems. I would like to note right away that our positions coincide on practically all issues discussed, our points of view coincide and I can tell you this with great satisfaction. As for bilateral relations, of course, we first of all focused on economic issues, both sides have unanimously expressed dissatisfaction with the range of our economic and trade relations. To be precise, recently a meeting of a Polish-Uzbek inter-governmental commission was held here which set serious new directions, new initiatives to be taken to resolve this very problem."

Hopes for increased economic cooperation

"As for the Polish and Uzbek economy, we do not have any rivalry, I would say. The Polish economy and its structure is developing in a way in which we are interested today. Similarly, the Polish economy is interested both in the structure of the economy, and maybe opportunities in the raw materials sector of the Uzbek economy. Here I think we have great opportunities for work. Moreover, I think the legal basis for developing our economic relations is solid enough. All other necessary legal documents, be it the basis of economic relations, be it an agreement on preventing double taxation, on the protection of investments and other most important documents which create the legal basis [as heard]. I would like to note that five years ago we signed a document on creating conditions of most favoured nation for the Polish economy in Uzbekistan and vice versa. Therefore we have opportunities, we do not have insoluble issues, I hope that the proposals which Mr Kwasniewski just made during the exchange of views of the delegations are so grounded that they are of great interest to us, I think we will move ahead in this direction."

Says NATO member Poland "interesting partner"

"We also discussed our military-technical cooperation. Recently Polish Defence Minister [Jerzy Szmajdzinski] visited Uzbekistan, I must say it was a remarkable event for us. Serious steps are planned in cooperation with the two military agencies, moreover today we consider Poland as a fully-fledged NATO member. This is the opening of new opportunities for Uzbekistan which takes part in and cooperates with the NATO Partnership for Peace programme. Poland may be of great interest for us from the point of view of the exchange of information, staff training and the creation of special units, in the issues of the fight against international terrorism and the challenges we see today on the international arena. In issues connected with cooperation with Poland in the fight against crime, the fight against organized crime, you have just witnessed the signing of a document on this issue. I think, there is also a broad space for work on this issue. One of the most important issues, which I think is extremely important, is that Poland soon, in 2004, as you know, will join the European Union as a fully-fledged member. This also opens great opportunities for us, and we hope that Poland will be a window opening new opportunities for Uzbekistan's cooperation with the EU. Poland's potential and opportunities in this sense inspire our confidence. Briefly I would like to say that there were no problems between Poland and Uzbekistan, either in the political sphere or in the economy or in any other spheres. Noting this with great satisfaction I would like to say in conclusion that Uzbeks feel great respect for Poles, the history of the Polish people, its rich culture and in general we find Poles very likeable. I would like to end by saying that I have once again been assured by the person of the Polish leader, Aleksander Kwasniewski, I have known him for many years, but today he has at long last come to Uzbekistan after his visit was postponed several times for various reasons, and I hope, here in Uzbekistan, he has been learning more about the everyday life of the population and culture, tomorrow he will visit Samarkand and Bukhara, and I think, this will enable him to learn more about Uzbekistan and I hope, and I believe, that the visit will give an impetus for the development and strengthening of our relations. Thank you."

Polish president says ties "dynamic

[Kwasniewski, in Polish with overlaid translation] Mr President, thank you very much for the invitation, for the warm words about me. This is the first-ever visit by a Polish president to Uzbekistan, which speaks for itself about the significance of the fact. This visit was preceded by the 1995 visit by President Karimov to Poland, and heads of departments and ministries have visited the country. I hope the result of my visit will be the speeding up and more efficient mutual relations between both countries."

"I would like to say that I have invited President Islam Karimov to pay an official visit to Poland in the nearest future and this visit would show that our relations are dynamic."

[Karimov] It is not very difficult for us to understand you speaking in Polish, but when we hear the translation everything become clear.

[Kwasniewski, in Russian] Because we use not only our tongues, but also our hearts, When we speak with all our heart then everything is clear.

[Karimov] Therefore, using this opportunity I would like to thank President Kwasniewski for the invitation for the Uzbek president to visit Poland. I accept the invitation with great satisfaction and gratitude and I hope that the visit will take place at a time agreed. Thank you.

Polish president praises Irish EU referendum

[Kwasniewski, in Polish with overlaid translation] Uzbekistan is an important country in the region. It is an exporter of stability in the region, it is a very interesting partner for Poland in the political, military and other spheres. We are pleased that Uzbekistan is actively interacting with the USA and the NATO structures, and that it took an independent decision on such interaction. In the field of the economy and trade much should be done and caught up with, there are legal conditions for this, there is an opportunity to cooperate in the fields of construction, agriculture, processing industry, ecology and other fields. There are also other branches, I mentioned already the military aspect and it is necessary to expand relations in tourism, culture. There are great opportunities, there is a goodwill in the investment climate here. As for the Irish referendum, it is good that it took place, it removed the last obstacle on the way towards the expansion [of the EU].

[Uzbek radio] My question is to Mr Kwasniewski, the Polish president. Respected president, how can the Republic of Poland cooperate with Uzbekistan in the fight against international terrorism as a NATO member?

Praise for Uzbek leader's decisions

[Kwasniewski, in Russian] As a NATO member we take part in the antiterrorist fight, take a concrete part, not only through political support, but with the help of our soldiers in Afghanistan, a group of about 100 Polish officers and soldiers are in Bagram not far from Kabul and carrying out our task. It should be said that we are fighting against terrorism in other places of the world as well, because for long years, for decades, we have been taking part in various missions, peace-keeping missions, in Kosovo and so on. How can we cooperate with Uzbekistan? I think we must continue the work we have initiated. I think we can work well with Uzbekistan politically because our values and attitudes are very identical. The decisions President Karimov made after 11 September are absolutely correct, I think. The fight against terrorism must be active and there is no excuse here. Terrorism cannot be used for most complicated issues of peace, and of course there are such issues. Terrorism must be illegal. I think we will work closely with Uzbekistan politically because our approach and assessment are identical. As for other forms of cooperation, we need such cooperation in the military field because as our soldiers are going to Afghanistan we need a site here in Uzbekistan for various activities. I think we can also develop our relations in the military sphere because there will be many international projects in which we will take part together. I think that in the fight against terrorism Poland and Uzbekistan have a serious and important role, and our cooperation is also important for that fight.

Uzbekistan against use of force in Iraq

[Polish weekly Polska Zbrojna, in Russian] Hello, comrade president, I would like to ask about the international theme. What is your attitude to the developments around Iraq and how will you react to the rather probable international operation in Iraq?

[Karimov] Is the question to me?

[Henrik] Yes.

[Karimov] I think, that if you had not asked that question, many people would think that we had simply avoided the sharp edges and had not touched on the issue of interest to many people in the world. My attitude to the issue is unambiguous. We are against any form of solution of the problem by means of force. We are categorically against the solution of issues by a military way if there are no grounds for this. That is, all the opportunities for resolving the problem of Iraq should be used to the maximum, first of all its striving to obtain a weapon of mass destruction, be it biological, chemical or nuclear, all these attempts and efforts should be stopped, and in this respect world public opinion is unambiguous. By what means, by what methods is another question. To be brief, I will say as follows: we can be calm while the genie is still in the bottle. But if the genie is set free from the bottle, it will be impossible to drive it back. I will repeat the idea once again so that you can interpret or understand the idea in the broad sense of the word. Eleven-twelve years after the attack on Kuwait one can deal with, appeal, warn, send dozens of commissions. Pay attention, it was in 1991, the so-called intrusion and, openly speaking, small Kuwait was simply seized. What would be the consequences today if it had not been for international solidarity and first of all the US-led Desert Storm operation?

Recalls behaviour of Taleban

"I will give you another fact. In 1999, 2000 and 2001 the Taleban had already reached a level when they were threatening the security of Central Asia, and not only the events of 11 September events showed this. The Taleban, and those who found refuge under the Taleban, well Afghanistan became like a shooting ground for various fanatics and terrorists, I am not speaking about some separate directions of Al-Qa'idah. I think, it is clear that Afghanistan in recent times simply ignored all international norms, appeals, Security Council resolutions, dozens of commissions were formed, dozens of delegations and UN envoys, envoys from the UN secretary-general and so on. All of them arrived and they were not welcomed to talks, it was necessary to convince them to attend the talks, and so on and so forth. All this continued unpunished, continued even at a time when they had challenged the whole of progressive mankind, if you want, those who respect culture, civilization, when they blew up the monuments to Buddha in Bamian. This was an unpunished challenge to which noone received any answer. The world public, countries, great countries could do nothing to stop the tyranny. And that misfortune, which I think is a tragedy not for America alone but for the whole of mankind, when on 11 September before the eyes of the entire world those horrible acts of terrorism were committed, was to happen, so that America would pay attention to the need to speak differently with Afghanistan and resolve the issue in another way. The whole world supported the action. Although at the beginning there were those who hesitated, who said that the Americans would stay there for a long time and there would be a second Vietnam and so on. That tragedy happened for the entire world to understand that it is impossible to play with terrorists, to come to terms with them. I draw this to the attention of those who today act in accordance with the principle, this is not my business as long as it does not affect me."

US stance should be supported

"Therefore, I say that the genie must not be set free from the bottle, if it is freed, there will hardly be forces able to put it back into the bottle. We must not wait until some terrorist circles, and those centres supporting terrorism, get access to weapons of mass destruction. Today Mr Kwasniewski and I spoke about how missiles, the most advanced kinds of arms, and very expensive, can be opposed to terrorism. A single terrorist is today terrorizing the whole of Washington. Just imagine, a huge city, children, old people, the most reliable protection, some structures protecting the calm of the population, and yet they cannot do anything since the terrorist is using a means which, unfortunately, we do not yet know how to counter adequately, so we can avoid further victims and neutralize the terrorist. We do not know such measures yet. So, you ask my attitude and I clearly express it. It is necessary to use peaceful means as much as possible, but if they are not enough, then the issue should be resolved in the manner proposed by the world's strongest country, the USA. [Vilor Niyazmatov, Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency] My question is to the president of Poland. Mr Kwasniewski, your itinerary includes a visit to Afghanistan. Could you tell us about the aim of the visit, how do you see the current situation in that country, how do you assess Uzbekistan's contribution to building a new life in that country, to building a democratic and law-governed state? Thank you."

Uzbekistan has important role in coalition

[Kwasniewski, in Russian] It will be a brief visit to Afghanistan, an important one because we think that all the changes in Afghanistan are very positive. I would hope that my visit and talks with President Karzai will be a political support, both for Afghanistan and the current democratic processes there. That's the first. Second, there are Polish troops there and I will meet them in Bagram. This is an opportunity for me to listen to them and to thank them and say that their work, their mission, is very important to us, Poland, as a member of NATO and the antiterrorist coalition. Third, we will probably discuss economic projects, Poland and Polish companies would like to take part. I think, we are ready to work together with Uzbekistan because we are not specialists, we do not have such information and such knowledge and such experience as you; as for Afghanistan, we will also talk about that. And finally, as for the role of Uzbekistan. I assess it very highly. Not only as neighbours, your knowledge of that is very good, but I think that all the advice which Mr Karimov expressed to the international community was very important, very clever and long-term. As all these issues were resolved we were able to work with Uzbekistan in the political sphere as well and understand the information coming from there. At present and in the future Uzbekistan's role in the antiterrorist coalition for stabilization in the Central Asian region is absolutely decisive.

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