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Commonwealth of Independent States
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The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) ((transliterated )) is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics.
The CIS is comparable to a confederation similar to the original European Community. 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. It has also promoted cooperation on democratization and cross-border crime prevention.
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Encyclopedia
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) ((transliterated )) is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics.
The CIS is comparable to a confederation similar to the original European Community. 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. It has also promoted cooperation on democratization and cross-border crime prevention. As a regional organization, CIS participates in UN peacekeeping forces. Some of the members of the CIS have established the Eurasian Economic Community with the aim of creating a full-fledged common market. However, other member states have shown greater interest in seeking to join NATO and the European Union.
History
The organization was founded on 8 December 1991 by Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, when the leaders of the three countries met in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Brest in Belarus and signed a Creation Agreement (Soglasheniye) on the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation of CIS as a successor entity to the USSR. 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. The CIS charter stated that all the members were sovereign and independent nations and thereby effectively abolished the Soviet Union.
On 21 December 1991, the leaders of eight additional former Soviet Republics – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – joined the CIS, thus bringing the number of participating countries to 11. Georgia joined two years later, in December 1993. As of that time, CIS included 12 of the 15 former Soviet Republics. The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – had decided not to join, seeking strategic affiliation with the European Union.
Membership status of CIS countries
The Creation Agreement remained the main constituent document of the CIS until January 1993, when the CIS Charter (Ustav) was adopted. The charter formalized the concept of membership: a member country is defined as a country that ratifies the CIS Charter (sec. 2, art. 7). Turkmenistan has not ratified the charter and changed its CIS standing to associate member as of 26 August 2005 in order to be consistent with its UN-recognized international neutrality status. Ukraine, one of the three founding countries that signed and ratified the Creation Agreement in December 1991, has never ratified the CIS Charter and it is thus legally not a member country to this day and currently is considering cutting back its financial input.
| Country | Signed | Ratified | Charter ratified |
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| | 21 December 1991 | 18 February 1992 | 16 March 1994 | | | 21 December 1991 | 24 September 1993 | 14 December 1993 | | | 8 December 1991 | 10 December 1991 | 18 January 1994 | | | — | 3 December 1993 | 19 April 1994 | | | 21 December 1991 | 23 December 1991 | 20 April 1994 | | | 21 December 1991 | 6 March 1992 | 12 April 1994 | | | 21 December 1991 | 8 April 1994 | 27 June 1994 | | | 8 December 1991 | 12 December 1991 | 20 July 1993 | | | 21 December 1991 | 26 June 1993 | 4 August 1993 | | | 21 December 1991 | 26 December 1991 | Not ratified | | | 8 December 1991 | 10 December 1991 | Not ratified | | | 21 December 1991 | 1 April 1992 | 9 February 1994 |
Between years of 2003 and 2005, three CIS member states experienced a change of government in a series of colour revolutions: Eduard Shevardnadze was overthrown in Georgia, Viktor Yushchenko was elected in Ukraine, and, lastly, Askar Akayev was toppled in Kyrgyzstan. 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". In March 2007, Igor Ivanov, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, expressed his doubts concerning the usefulness of CIS, and emphasizing that the Eurasian Economic Community became a more competent organization to unify the biggest countries of the CIS.
Following the South Ossetian war in 2008, President Saakashvili announced during a public speech in the capital city Tbilisi that Georgia would leave the CIS and the Georgian Parliament voted unanimously (on 14 August 2008) to withdraw from the regional organization. On 18 August 2008 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia sent a note to the CIS Executive Committee notifying it of the aforesaid resolutions of the Parliament of Georgia and Georgia’s withdrawal from CIS, which becomes effective on 17 August 2009 (CIS Charter, sec. 1, art. 9)
Executive Secretaries of CIS
Eurasian Economic Community
The Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC or EAEC) originated from a customs union between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan on the 29 March 1996. It was named EEC on 10 October 2000 when Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan signed the treaty. EurAsEC was formally created when the treaty was finally ratified by all five member states in May 2001. Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine have the observer status. EurAsEC is working on establishing a common energy market and exploring the more efficient use of water in central Asia.
Organization of Central Asian Cooperation
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan formed the OCAC in 1991 as Central Asian Commonwealth (CAC). The organization continued in 1994 as Central Asian Economic Union (CAEU), in which Tajikistan and Turkmenistan did not participate. In 1998 it became Central Asian Economic Cooperation (CAEC), which marked the return of Tajikistan. On February 28, 2002 it was renamed to its current name. Russia joined on May 28, 2004. On October 7, 2005 it was decided between the member states that Uzbekistan will join the Eurasian Economic Community and that the organizations will merge. The organizations joined on 25 January 2006. It is not clear what will happen to the status of current CACO observers that are not observers to EurAsEC (Georgia and Turkey).
Common Economic Space
After discussion about the creation of a common economic space between the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) 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 23 February 2003. The Common Economic Space would involve a supranational commission on trade and tariffs that would be based in Kiev, 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.
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. The creation of a common economic space for Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus may be launched on January 1, 2010.
Economic data
| Country | Population | | | growth | per capita |
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| Belarus | 9,688,796 | 36,961,815,474 | 44,773,406,221 | 21.13% | 4,621 | | Russia | 142,498,534 | 984,926,789,696 | 1,289,582,151,445 | 30.93% | 9,050 | | Kazakhstan | 15,421,864 | 81,003,864,916 | 104,143,432,632 | 28.57% | 6,753 | | Kyrgyzstan | 5,316,544 | 2,834,168,893 | 3,745,000,489 | 32.14% | 704 | | Uzbekistan | 27,372,256 | 17,077,480,575 | 19,274,619,012 | 12.87% | 704 | | Tajikistan | 6,735,996 | 2,830,213,563 | 3,737,572,699 | 32.06% | 555 | | EAEC total | 207,033,990 | 1,125,634,333,117 | 1,465,256,182,498 | 30.17% | 7,077 |
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| Azerbaijan | 8,467,171 | 20,981,929,498 | 31,248,521,184 | 48.93% | 3,691 | | Georgia | 4,395,420 | 7,745,256,432 | 10,175,826,838 | 31.38% | 2,315 | | Ukraine | 46,205,379 | 107,753,069,307 | 141,177,227,723 | 31.02% | 3,055 | | Moldova | 3,793,603 | 3,408,283,313 | 4,394,888,125 | 28.95% | 1,158 | | GUAM total | 62,861,573 | 139,888,538,550 | 186,996,463,870 | 33.68% | 2,975 |
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| Armenia | 3,002,271 | 6,386,714,351 | 9,177,274,353 | 43.69% | 3,057 | | Turkmenistan | 4,965,275 | 6,511,997,714 | 7,253,230,940 | 11.38% | 1,461 | | Grand total | 277,863,109 | 1,278,421,583,732 | 1,668,683,151,661 | 30.53% | 6,005 | The data is taken from the UN .
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Collective Security Treaty Organisation
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) (Russian: ??????????? ???????? ? ???????????? ????????????) or simply the Tashkent Treaty (Russian: ??????????? ???????) first began as the CIS Collective Security Treaty which was signed on May 15, 1992, by Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, in the city of Tashkent. Azerbaijan 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.
Renovation
The CST was set to last for a 5-year period unless extended. On April 2, 1999, only six members of the CST signed a protocol renewing the treaty for another five year period -- Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan refused to sign and withdrew from the treaty instead. Organization was named CSTO on October 7, 2002 in Chisinau. Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed secretary general of the new organization. During 2005, the CSTO partners conducted some common military exercises. In 2005, Uzbekistan withdrew from GUAM and on 23 June 2006, Uzbekistan became a full participant in the CSTO and its membership was formally ratified by its parliament on 28 March 2008. The CSTO is an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
The charter 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 aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. To this end, the CSTO holds yearly military command exercises for the CSTO nations to have an opportunity to improve inter-organization cooperation. The largest-scale CSTO military exercise held to date were the "Rubezh 2008" exercises hosted in Armenia where a combined total of 4,000 troops from all 7 constituent CSTO member countries conducted operative, strategic, and tactical training with an emphasis towards furthering efficiency of the collective security element of the CSTO partnership.
Recent events
In May 2007 the CSTO secretary-general Nikolai Bordyuzha suggested Iran could join the CSTO saying, "The CSTO is an open organization. If Iran applies in accordance with our charter, we will consider the application." If Iran joined it would be the first state outside the former Soviet Union to become a member of the organization.
On October 6, 2007, CSTO members agreed to a major expansion of the organization that would create a CSTO peacekeeping force that could deploy under a U.N. mandate or without one in its member states. The expansion would also allow all members to purchase Russian weapons at the same price as Russia. CSTO signed an agreement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.
On August 29, 2008, Russia announced it would seek CSTO recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Three days before, on August 26, Russia recognized the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. On September 5, 2008, Armenia assumed the rotating CSTO presidency during a CSTO meeting in Moscow, Russia.
Other Activities
Election observation missions
The CIS Election Monitoring Organization is an election monitoring body that was formed in October 2002, following a Commonwealth of Independent States heads of states meeting which adopted the Convention on the Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights, and Freedoms in the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The CIS-EMO has been sending election observers to member countries of the CIS since this time.
- The democratic nature of the final round of the Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 which followed the Orange Revolution and brought into power the former opposition, was questioned by the CIS while the OSCE found no significant problems. This was the first time ever that the CIS observation teams challenged the validity of an election, saying that it should be considered illegitimate. On March 15, 2005, the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency quoted Dmytro Svystkov (a spokesman of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry) that Ukraine has suspended its participation in the CIS election monitoring organization.
- The CIS praised the Uzbekistan parliamentary elections, 2005 as "legitimate, free and transparent" while the OSCE had referred to the Uzbek elections as having fallen "significantly short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections".
- Moldovan authorities refused to invite CIS observers in the Moldovan parliamentary elections, 2005, an action Russia criticized. Many dozens such observers from Belarus and Russia were stopped from reaching Moldova.
- CIS observers monitored the Tajikistan parliamentary elections, 2005 and in the end declared them "legal, free and transparent." The same elections were pronounced by the OSCE to have failed international standards for democratic elections.
- Soon after CIS observers hailed the Kyrgyz parliamentary elections of 2005 as well-organized, free, and fair. A large-scale and often violent demonstrations broke out throughout the country protesting what the opposition called a rigged parliamentary election. In contrast the OSCE reported that the elections fell short of international standards in many areas.
Russian language
Russia has been urging for the Russian language to receive official status in all 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 region of 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.
Olympic Games
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.
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