Belgium, the European Commission and Nato have all denied that they were the ones who invited Uzbek hardman Islam Karimov to Brussels amid bitter criticism from NGOs.
Speaking to EUobserver on Friday (21 January), commission spokesman Michael Karnitschnig said: "I don't know whether Belgium or Nato invited him. I can say [EU commission President] Barroso did not invite him. The Uzbek side contacted us first. They launched the process if you will."
Mr Karnitschnig in earlier remar...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.