EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten arrived in Kazakhstan on 15 March at the start of a five-day trip during which he will also visit Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, Kazinform reported the same day. Patten\'s trip will focus on \"bilateral relations, the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, and the need to accelerate the process of political and economic reforms,\" according to a 12 March EU statement. Patten struck a note of cautious criticism in his initial remarks in Kazakhstan, warning political and business leaders that \"torture and other human rights violations, the restriction of fundamental freedoms...[are] precisely the conditions that breed and nurture the hate and grievance that underlie terrorism.\" Kazakhstan received 135 million euros ($165 million) in EU aid from 1991-2001, RFE/RL reported on 15 March. Patten\'s tour, the highest-level EU attention the region has received since 1996, will bypass Turkmenistan, which has increasingly shunned international dialogue. (RFE/RL)