June 30, 2007 (LPAC)--German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier has an opinion-editorial published in today's Frankfurter Allgemeine , under the headline, "Revive the Silk Road." He endorses intensified relations and cooperation between Europe and the Central Asian states, centered on energy and the region's role as a pivot between Europe and Asia. For too many years, the region remained a "white spot on the map, for us Europeans," Steinmeier notes. "The myth of the Silk Road and the exchange of wealth that went along with it, were entirely forgotten." This shall change, he writes, mentioning a European role in the improvement of water resources management; this refers to the project of a German-funded Water Academy in Bishkek. The new Central Asia strategy of the European Union is one of the successes of the German EU presidency, Steinmeier writes.

The less constructive side of German engagement in the region also is making headlines these days, with a joint statement issued by pro-Atlanticist parliamentarians Guttenberg (CSU) and Klose (SPD), calling for a merger of the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force, of NATO in Afghanistan) and Enduring Freedom (U.S. name for campaign in Afghanistan) missions under one command. This which would bring the European NATO members finally under the control of the United States, Britain and Canada, and into the priority of hot combat missions in the Afghan war theater.