Uzbekistan: Has the situation really improved?

As reported by Radio Free Europe on 21 June 2019, the USA has removed Uzbekistan from its list of countries with the worst religious tolerance. For the first time in 13 years, it is no longer designated a country of particular concern. Rolf Zeegers, persecution analyst at World Watch Research,‚ considers the decision by the US State Department to remove Uzbekistan from the list of countries with the highest levels of restrictions on freedom of religion premature. It is true that the political situation has changed, but the country is still a dictatorship. Christians in Uzbekistan recently made a clear statement about the situation since President Mirziyoyev came to power: "After the change of president there was a hope that we would get more freedom, but soon we realized that the same raids, arrests and oppression continued." (Source: Open Doors). If this is the case, then why remove Uzbekistan from the blacklist?"