"The decision by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to form the Eurasian Economic Commission [EEC] on Wednesday at the CIS leaders’ summit brings into focus the integration processes in the post-Soviet space. After several false starts through the past two decades of efforts by Moscow, a critical mass seems to be forming, finally. The turning point, in retrospect, was the Customs Union formed by the 3 countries in January last year, which eventually became operational 6 months later in July.
The 3 countries thereupon committed themselves to launch a Common Economic Space by January 2012 and transform their fledgling organization into a Eurasian Economic Union [EEU]. The EEU is an initiative by Vladimir Putin, envisaging free flow of goods, services and labour and a common currency. The formation of the EEC on Wednesday takes the EEU idea significantly forward.
Media reports say “several” CIS countries have evinced interest in the EEU — Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in particular. Interestingly, Uzbek president Islam Karimov who attended the CIS summit in Moscow has been quoted saying, “The Eurasian Union and everything else [in the direction of Eurasian integration] are the natural and pre-ordained development of everything happening today in the world.”
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