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CIS SUMMIT - START FOR NEW INTEGRATION
Vestnik Kavkaza
May 18 2012
Russia
The recent informal summit of the CIS leaders gathered all the
Commonwealth presidents at surprisingly short notice. The presidents
congratulated Putin on his third presidential term, while the Russian
President repeated the basic principles of his new foreign policy.
He stressed that strategic partnership with CIS members will be the
top priority of Russia's foreign policy when he's in office. Moscow
has de facto declared a new stage in the Eurasian Union construction,
announced in the President's pre-election campaign.
Putin said that the main strategic task is the promotion of cultural,
inter-regional and economic ties, as the CIS states can't evolve
without each other. Another common task for the states is counteracting
new threats.
Political expert Andrei Areshev, who commented on the results of the
meeting for 'VK', stressed that it is important to remember that the
meeting took place at a moment of power transition for Russia. The
expert believes that it is quite logical for Russia to place its
foreign political priority with the CIS. Areshev believes that global
politics will become more and more complex and the significance of
the military element in it will increase, therefore to assure inner
stability it is vitally important for Russia to keep the situation
on its borders stable, especially in the Caucasus and in Central Asia.
The expert said that for now the status quo will be maintained in
Russian-Georgian relations, and Russia won't change its policy
towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia. As for Nagorno-Karabakh,
Areshev is convinced that Russia will carry on with its efforts to
reconcile Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, the positions of the
conflicting parties are still incompatible and a certain status
quo has already been established in the region. The general state
of affairs in this situation is unfavorable for Russia, as it could
lead to escalation in any moment, as well as to the increase of the
influence of extra-regional players in the situation. Russia will
try to keep both sides from ill-considered steps. "However, I don't
expect any sudden breakthrough on this issue," the expert said.
It is noteworthy that Putin obtained bilateral meetings with both the
Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents, so it would seem that Russia's
new President needs time to catch up with the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement process.
Azeri experts also believe that the informal CIS summit sent a message
about the future Eurasian Union creation to all the CIS members.
Azerbaijani MP Zakhid Orudj told 'News Azerbaijan' that Putin is
definitely hoping to create some new integration structures in CIS
space, but in reality it would be very hard for Russia to do so.
According to another MP, Aidyn Mirzazade, Russia won't be able (and
doesn't want to) revive the USSR: "To recreate the USSR one needs to
restore the ideology, and Russia doesn't want that. And for now Russia
doesn't have the means to govern larger territories," the expert said.
However, he stressed that Azerbaijan's membership in the CIS is fully
compatible with the state's national interests.
Armenian PM Tigran Sarkisyan, however, in his interview to the
'Vedomosti' paper that took place prior to the summit, said that
economic integration in the CIS framework is inefficient for his
country. He pointed out that such cooperation with the EU is much
more interesting for Armenia, as it makes the country evolve and try
to live up to European standards.
So it is obvious that it would be hard to construct a united Eurasian
Union with its potential members having such different positions.
However, Moscow seems to be ready to accept this challenge.
From: A. Papazian
Vestnik Kavkaza
May 18 2012
Russia
The recent informal summit of the CIS leaders gathered all the
Commonwealth presidents at surprisingly short notice. The presidents
congratulated Putin on his third presidential term, while the Russian
President repeated the basic principles of his new foreign policy.
He stressed that strategic partnership with CIS members will be the
top priority of Russia's foreign policy when he's in office. Moscow
has de facto declared a new stage in the Eurasian Union construction,
announced in the President's pre-election campaign.
Putin said that the main strategic task is the promotion of cultural,
inter-regional and economic ties, as the CIS states can't evolve
without each other. Another common task for the states is counteracting
new threats.
Political expert Andrei Areshev, who commented on the results of the
meeting for 'VK', stressed that it is important to remember that the
meeting took place at a moment of power transition for Russia. The
expert believes that it is quite logical for Russia to place its
foreign political priority with the CIS. Areshev believes that global
politics will become more and more complex and the significance of
the military element in it will increase, therefore to assure inner
stability it is vitally important for Russia to keep the situation
on its borders stable, especially in the Caucasus and in Central Asia.
The expert said that for now the status quo will be maintained in
Russian-Georgian relations, and Russia won't change its policy
towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia. As for Nagorno-Karabakh,
Areshev is convinced that Russia will carry on with its efforts to
reconcile Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, the positions of the
conflicting parties are still incompatible and a certain status
quo has already been established in the region. The general state
of affairs in this situation is unfavorable for Russia, as it could
lead to escalation in any moment, as well as to the increase of the
influence of extra-regional players in the situation. Russia will
try to keep both sides from ill-considered steps. "However, I don't
expect any sudden breakthrough on this issue," the expert said.
It is noteworthy that Putin obtained bilateral meetings with both the
Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents, so it would seem that Russia's
new President needs time to catch up with the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement process.
Azeri experts also believe that the informal CIS summit sent a message
about the future Eurasian Union creation to all the CIS members.
Azerbaijani MP Zakhid Orudj told 'News Azerbaijan' that Putin is
definitely hoping to create some new integration structures in CIS
space, but in reality it would be very hard for Russia to do so.
According to another MP, Aidyn Mirzazade, Russia won't be able (and
doesn't want to) revive the USSR: "To recreate the USSR one needs to
restore the ideology, and Russia doesn't want that. And for now Russia
doesn't have the means to govern larger territories," the expert said.
However, he stressed that Azerbaijan's membership in the CIS is fully
compatible with the state's national interests.
Armenian PM Tigran Sarkisyan, however, in his interview to the
'Vedomosti' paper that took place prior to the summit, said that
economic integration in the CIS framework is inefficient for his
country. He pointed out that such cooperation with the EU is much
more interesting for Armenia, as it makes the country evolve and try
to live up to European standards.
So it is obvious that it would be hard to construct a united Eurasian
Union with its potential members having such different positions.
However, Moscow seems to be ready to accept this challenge.
From: A. Papazian