The 'Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)' ( (СНГ),
transliterated ''Sodruzhestvo Nyezavisimykh Gosudarstv'') is the
international organization, or , consisting of eleven
former Soviet Republics:
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Belarus,
Georgia,
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova,
Russia,
Tajikistan,
Ukraine, and
Uzbekistan.
Turkmenistan discontinued permanent membership as of
August 26 2005 and is now an associate member.
The creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States signaled the dissolution of the
Soviet Union and, according to leaders of Russia, its purpose was to "allow a civilized divorce" between the
Soviet Republics. However, many observers perceive the CIS as a geopolitical tool, allowing Russia to maintain its influence over the formerly Soviet republics. Since its formation, the member-states of CIS have signed a large number of documents concerning integration and cooperation on matters of
economics,
defense and
foreign policy.
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a loose
confederation. Two of the
Post-Soviet states in
1997 formed the
Union of Russia and Belarus, a loose confederal grouping at present which has the stated intention of re-forming a
USSR-like
federation at some unspecified future date.
Members
★ Current members:
★
★ (1991)
★
★ (1993)
★
★ (1991)
★
★ (1991)
★
★ (1991)
★
★ (1991)
★
★ (1991)
★
★ (1991)
★
★ (1991)
★
★ (1991)
★ Current members outside the Council of Defense Ministers
★
★ (1993; withdrew from the Council in February 2006)
★ Former members/Associate members:
★
★ (1991; withdrew 2005, associate member since then)
History
Foundation
Initiating the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1991, the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine met on
December 8 in the
Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve, about 50
km (30
mi) north of
Brest in Belarus, and signed an agreement establishing the CIS.
[1] At the same time they announced that the new alliance would be open to all republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as other nations sharing the same goals.
Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev described this as an "illegal and dangerous" constitutional coup, but it soon became clear that the development could not be stopped: On
December 21 1991, the leaders of eleven of the fifteen
constituent republics of the Soviet Union met in
Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, and signed the charter, thus ''
de facto'' ratifying the initial CIS treaty. The Soviet government had already recognized the independence of
Estonia,
Latvia, and
Lithuania on
September 6 1991, and the three Baltic nations refused to join the CIS.
Georgia and
Azerbaijan were initially reluctant to join the CIS but eventually did so. The CIS charter stated that all the members were sovereign and independent nations and thereby effectively abolished the
Soviet Union.
The ten original member states were Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Azerbaijan joined the CIS in September 1993
[2] and Georgia joined in December though under somewhat controversial circumstances, following the
Georgian Civil War.
Crisis
Between years of 2003 and 2005, the leaderships of three CIS member states were overthrown in a series of "
colour revolutions":
Eduard Shevardnadze in
Georgia,
Leonid Kuchma in
Ukraine, and, lastly,
Askar Akayev in
Kyrgyzstan. The new government in Ukraine has taken an especially clear pro-Western stance, in contrast to their predecessors' close relationship with the
Kremlin. The new government of Georgia has likewise taken a pro-Western and anti-Kremlin stance.
Moldova also seems to be quietly drifting toward the West, away from the CIS.
In that timeframe a number of statements have been made by member state officials, casting doubt on the potential and continued worth of the CIS:
★ '
Moldova:' On
September 19 2003,
Vladimir Voronin, the president of Moldova, expressed his disappointment at the
Common Economic Space, set up between
Russia,
Kazakhstan,
Ukraine, and
Belarus, and claimed this decision would lead to a "depreciation of CIS stock" and that it showed that "possible modernization of the CIS has been abandoned for good" and "the lack of perspective of the CIS has become evident".
[3] However he has also more recently argued that it would be a great mistake for Moldova to leave the "huge markets" of the CIS and that Moldova can gain profit by remaining part of the CIS
[4]
★ '
Georgia:' In November 2004, the Defense Minister of Georgia,
Giorgi Baramidze, told reporters that he would not be attending the CIS Council of Defense Ministers, and that the CIS is "yesterday's history", while Georgia's future was in cooperation with
NATO defense ministers.
[5] In February 2006, Georgia officially withdrew from the Council of Defense Ministers, with the statement that "Georgia has taken a course to join NATO and it cannot be part of two military structures simultaneously".
[6][7] As tensions heighten with Russia due to the latter's
ban on several Georgian wine and water brands, the Government of Georgia is considering withdrawing from the CIS, a membership of which is largely unpopular within Georgia. President
Mikheil Saakashvili said on
May 2 2006 that the government would review whether the country was benefiting from being a CIS member
[8]
★ '
Belarus:' One of the closest allies of Russia, the President of Belarus
Alexander Lukashenko, said during a summit with Vladimir Putin that "The CIS is undergoing the most critical phase of its history" and is at risk of being dissolved or losing all its significance to the member states.
★ '
Ukraine:' On
April 9,
2005, Minister of Economics of Ukraine said at a news conference "there is no hope for CIS development" and that Ukrainian government is considering halting its financial contributions to CIS bodies.
[9] Ukraine had historically become one of the CIS founding countries. At the same time Ukraine is the participant and not the member of CIS as it did not sign the Rules (Statute) of CIS. Ukraine is against turning of CIS into the "superstate" entity and against delegating to such entity of any authority to override the national governments decisions. Ukraine is against delegating to CIS of the status of the international law subject and does not recognize the CIS right to represent its interests in the international arena or in the international organs. Ukraine does not support any attempts to revive in the post-soviet territory any new amalgamations of federative or confederative character, is against creation on the CIS basis of political, military or economic union around mutual center. Ukraine departs from the fact that each of the countries - participants of CIS conducts its foreign policy independently and determines the scope of its activities within CIS. Ukraine does not take part in the CIS military-political structures. Ukraine is currently gradually further "wrapping up" the scope of its participation in the CIS activities. Ukraine's strategic target is integration into the European and Euroatlantic structures.
★ '
Turkmenistan:' In August 2005, Turkmenistan downgraded its CIS status to an associate member.
[10]
★ '
Russia': In March 2007,
Igor Ivanov, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, expressed his doubts concerning the usefulness of CIS, and emphasizing that the
EurAsEC became a more competent organization to unify the biggest countries of the CIS.
[11].
Role and organisation
The CIS is headquartered in
Minsk,
Belarus. The chairman of the CIS is known as the
Executive Secretary. All of the CIS's executive secretaries have been from Belarus or Russia. The current executive secretary is
Vladimir Rushailo.
From a historical point of view, the CIS could be viewed a successor entity to the
Soviet Union, insofar as one of its original intents was to provide a framework for the disassembly of that state. However, the CIS is emphatically not a state unto itself, and is more comparable to the
European Community than to its "predecessor". However, although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is more than a purely symbolic organization, possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security. The most significant issue for the CIS is the establishment of a full-fledged free trade zone / economic union between the member states, to have been launched in 2005. It has also promoted cooperation on democratisation and cross-border crime prevention.
During the 1992
Olympic Games (in
Albertville and
Barcelona), athletes from the CIS member states competed as the
Unified Team for the last time. In other sports events in that year, such as the European Championships in football, athletes took part as representatives of the
CIS. Since then, the member states have competed under their national banners.
Governing institutions
★ Staff for Coordinating Military Cooperation. Established as the CIS Joint Armed Forces High Command in March 1992 and then reorganised as the Coordinating Staff in August 1993. Reduced quickly to a very weak body as national authorities asserted their control over their own armed forces. May now have been wound up after a CIS conference in Kazan in August 2005.
[12]
Statutory bodies
The affairs of CIS member states are governed by the following statutory bodies:
★ 'Council of the Heads of States'
★ 'Council of the Heads of Governments'
★ 'Council of Foreign Ministers'
★ 'Council of Defense Ministers'
★ 'Council of Border Troops Commanders'
★ 'Inter-Parliamentary Assembly' (IPA)
:Established in March 1992 as a consultative institution, the first participants were
Armenia,
Belarus,
Kazakhstan,
Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan and
Russia. Between 1993 and 1996,
Azerbaijan,
Georgia and
Moldova also joined.
Ukraine joined in 1999.
: IPA sessions are held twice a year in
Saint Petersburg, and are composed of parliamentary delegations of the member states. The IPA has nine permanent commissions: on legal issues; on economy and finance; on social policy and human rights; on ecology and natural resources; on defense and security issues; on culture, science, education and information issues; on foreign policy affairs; on state-building and local government; on control budget.
[2]
★ '
Economic Court' -
Website
Executive bodies
★ 'Economic Council'
★ 'Council of the Member-State Permanent Representatives'
★ 'Executive Committee' -
Website
Agencies for economic cooperation
:
★ 'Interstate Statistical Committee' -
Website
★ 'Interstate Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification' -
Website
:Also known as the ''Euro Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification (EASC)''. Recognized as a regional standards organization by ISO Council Resolution 40/1995.
★ 'Interstate Council for Emergencies Caused by Natural Phenomena and Industrial Activities'
★ 'Interstate Ecological Council'
★ 'Interstate Council for Hydrometeorology'
★ 'Interstate Council for Geodesy, Cartography, Cadaster and Remote Earth Probing'
★ 'Interstate Council for Coordination of Scientific Information'
★ 'Inter-Governmental Council for Cooperation in the Construction Industry'
★ 'Electric Power Council' -
Website
★ 'Council for Cooperation in Health Care'
★ 'Interstate Council for Anti-Trust Policies'
★ 'Interstate Council for Industrial Safety' -
Website
★ 'Council of the Heads of Statistical Services'
★ 'Anti-Terrorism Center'
★ 'Council of the Interior Ministers'
:Note. In the CIS countries, the Interior Minister is the head of a national law enforcement agency.
★ 'Council of the Heads of Security and Special Services'
★ 'Joint Consultative Commission on Disarmament'
Chartered organisations
★ 'Interstate Bank' -
Website
★ 'MIR Interstate Television and Radio Broadcasting Company'
★ 'Council of the Heads of the Chambers of Commerce'
★ 'International Association of Exchanges' -
Website
★ 'Leasing Confederation' -
Website
★ 'International Consumer Cooperatives Council'
★ 'International Union for Agricultural Production'
★ 'International Academy of Wine Growing and Wine Making'
Election observation missions
Main articles: CIS election observation missions
Since 2002, the CIS has been sending observers to elections in member countries of the CIS. Several of these observation missions have been extremely controversial, as their findings have been that the elections are "free and fair" only when the pro-Kremlin or ruling-party wins, and therefore has often been in contradiction with the findings of other international organisations from Western liberal-democracies - such as the
OSCE, the
Council of Europe, or the
European Union - which normally label those same elections as having many irregularities.
After the CIS observer mission disputed the final (repeat) round of the
2004 Ukrainian presidential election which followed the
Orange Revolution and brought into power the former opposition, Ukraine suspended its membership in the CIS observer missions.
Moves for further integration
Collective Security Treaty
Main articles: Collective Security Treaty Organisation
The CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) was signed on
May 15,
1992, by Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, in the city of
Tashkent. Azerbaijan likewise signed the treaty on
September 24,
1993, Georgia on
December 9,
1993 and Belarus on
December 31,
1993. The treaty came into effect on
April 20,
1994.
The treaty reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while an aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all.
The CST was set to last for a five-year period unless extended. On
April 2,
1999, the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, signed a protocol renewing the treaty for another five year period – however Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan refused to sign and withdrew from the treaty instead.
On
October 7,
2002, the six members of the CST, signed a charter in
Chişinău, expanding it and renaming to the
Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed secretary general of the new organization. On
23 June 2006, Uzbekistan rejoined CSTO.
[13]
Russian language
Russia has been urging for the
Russian language to receive official status in all 12 of the CIS member states. So far Russian is an official language in four of these states: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Russian is also considered an official language in the separatist regions of
Abkhazia and
Transnistria, as well as the semi-autonomous region of
Gagauzia in Moldova.
Viktor Yanukovych, the Moscow-supported presidential candidate in the controversial
Ukrainian presidential election, 2004, declared his intention to make Russian an official second language of Ukraine. However,
Viktor Yushchenko, the winner, did not do so as he was more closely aligned with the
Ukrainian-speaking population.
Common economic space
There has been discussion about the creation of a "common economic space" between the countries of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Agreement in principle about the creation of this space was announced after a meeting in the
Moscow suburb of
Novo-Ogarevo on
February 23 2003.
The Common Economic Space would involve a
supranational commission on trade and
tariffs that would be based in
Kyiv, would initially be headed by a representative of
Kazakhstan, and would not be subordinate to the governments of the four nations. The ultimate goal would be a regional organisation that would be open for other countries to join as well, and could eventually lead even to a single currency.
[14]
On
22 May 2003 The
Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) voted 266 votes in favour and 51 against the joint economic space. However, most believe that
Viktor Yushchenko's victory in the
Ukrainian presidential election of 2004 was a significant blow against the project: Yushchenko has shown renewed interest in Ukrainian membership in the European Union, and such membership would be incompatible with the envisioned
common economic space.
With the revival of the
Eurasian Economic Community in 2005 there is a possibility for the "common economic space" agenda to be implemented in its framework with or without the participation of
Ukraine. This was confirmed in August 2006
[15] - initially a
customs union will consist of
Belarus,
Russia and
Kazakhstan with the other
EurAsEC members joining later.
See also
★ 'Common Economic Space' as part of the
EU-Russia Common Spaces
★
GUAM
★
Post-Soviet states - organisations
References
1. [1]
2. US State Department 1993 Country Reports on Economic Practice and Trade Reports: Azerbaijan
3. http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/09/220903.asp#278674
4. http://eng.primenewsonline.com/?c=121&a=6783
5. http://www.isn.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=10230
6. http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/03-02-2006/75406-georgia-0
7. http://en.rian.ru/world/20060203/43324440.html
8. International Relations and Security Network, “Georgia considers withdrawing from CIS”, May 3, 2006.
9. http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11267754
10. http://www.cis.minsk.by/main.aspx?uid=6070
11. Russia questions further existence of the CIS post-soviet organization ''InfoNIAC''
12. http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=407&issue_id=3235&article_id=2369279, accessed late October 2006
13. Uzbekistan Accedes to Collective Security Treaty Organisation Vladimir Socor
14. http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2003/370301.shtml
15. http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-163819.html
External links
★
Charter of the CIS
★
CIS Executive Committee
★
PINR - C.I.S. Struggles for Cohesion
★
Turkmenistan reduces ties to "Associate Member"
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