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COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES (CIS)

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The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a confederation or alliance consisting of 10 former Soviet Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan discontinued permanent membership as of August 26, 2005 and is now an associate member. Georgia withdrew from the CIS on August 18, 2009, a year later after the armed conflict with Russia in South Ossetia.

The creation of CIS 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 have seen the CIS as a tool that would allow Russia to keep its influence over the post-Soviet states. Since its formation, the member states of the CIS have signed a large number of documents concerning integration and cooperation on matters of economics, defense and foreign policy.

The CIS is headquartered in Minsk, Belarus. The chairman of the CIS is known as the Executive Secretary. All of the CIS Executive Secretaries have been from Belarus or Russia. The current Executive Secretary is former Russian interior minister, Vladimir Rushailo.

Background

Initiating the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1991, the leaders of Russia – President Boris Yeltsin and State Secretary Gennady Burbulis, Belarus – Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR Stanislav Shushkevich and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Vyacheslav Kebich, and Ukraine – President Leonid Kravchuk and Prime Minister Vitold Fokin 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. At the same time they announced that the new confederation would be open to all republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as other nations sharing the same goals.

On December 11, 1991 Kyrgyzstan and Armenia announced about their entry into the CIS.

On December 13, 1991 on the initiative of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev the meeting of the heads of five Central Asian republics took place in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan). They also agreed to join the CIS provided that they would enjoy equal rights with the republics that had signed the Belovezhskie agreements.

The Soviet government had already recognized the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on September 6, 1991, and the three Baltic nations as well as Georgia refused to join CIS.

Mikhail Gorbachev, head of the USSR, described the project of the CIS 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 11 (Azerbaijan and Moldova also joined the Belovezhskie agreements) of the 12 remaining constituent republics of the USSR met in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, and signed the protocol to the above agreement, thus de facto ratifying the initial CIS treaty. They also adopted the Alma-Ata Declaration, which confirmed the devotion of the former Soviet republics to cooperation in various fields of external and internal policies, and announced the guarantees for implementation of international commitments of the former USSR.

The 11 original member states were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. In December 1993, Georgia also joined the CIS under somewhat controversial circumstances, following a civil war in which Russian troops intervened on the side of the Shevardnadze government.

On September 22, 1993 in Minsk the Charter of the Commonwealth of Independent States was adopted. The Heads of the CIS States also signed an agreement on creation of the Economic Union to form common economic space grounded on principle of free movement of goods, services, labor force, and capital; to elaborate coordinated monetary, tax, price, customs, and external economic policy; to bring together methods of regulating economic activity and create favorable conditions for the development of direct production relations.

In March 1994 the UN General Assembly granted the observer status to the CIS.

On April 15, 1994 there was concluded an agreement on creation of the free trade area, which, along with the agreement on creation of the Interstate Economic Committee and the agreement on creation of the Payments Union of the CIS dated 21 October 1994, came to be a key-note stage in the formation of the CIS.

In 1995, in order to move further integration an agreement on deepening integration in economic and humanitarian fields of four countries (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia) was signed.

In February 1999, by the decision of the Interstate Council of four countries (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia) the Republic of Tajikistan was accepted to the customs union. In October 2000 the Heads of the five states (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan) signed an agreement on creation of the Eurasian Economic Community.

Between 2003 and 2005, the leaderships of three CIS member states were overthrown in a series of "color revolutions": Eduard Shevardnadze in Georgia, Leonid Kuchma in Ukraine, and, lastly, Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan. In Ukraine especially, the new government has taken a clearly pro-Western stance contrasted 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:

  • On September 19, 2003, Vladimir Voronin, the president of Moldova expressed his disappointment at the Single 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".
  • In November 2004, the Defense Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Baramidze, told reporters that he would not be attending a council of CIS defense ministers, and that the CIS is "yesterday's history", while Georgia's future was in cooperation with NATO defense ministers.
  • One of the closest allies of Russia, the President of Belarus Aliaksandr Lukashenka, 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.
  • 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.

In August 2005 at jubilee Kazan Summit of the CIS Turkmenistan has abandoned its permanent membership in the Organization in favor of developing bilateral relations with the CIS countries and came to be an associate member. All the other members of the CIS agreed on the necessity to reform the Organization’s structure and bodies in order to make the project more pragmatic.

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 be launched in 2005. It has also promoted cooperation on democratization and cross-border crime prevention.

On October 5, 2007 in Dushanbe the regular CIS summit took place. The summit adopted Concept of the CIS Development. But Georgia and Turkmenistan's leaders did not sign it. Azerbaijan reserved its own opinion on the document. The new Concept of the CIS Development retained the consensus principle of decision making. The Concept outlines different areas of cooperation and proposed specific actions, performers and deadlines for each area of cooperation. The majority of the actions will be performed in the short and medium terms – until 2009. From now on, the CIS will have the rotated presidency, the same state will preside the Council of the Heads of States, Council of the Heads of Governments, Council of Foreign Ministers and Economic Council simultaneously throughout a year. Apart from that, the Institution of National Coordinators is being introduced in the CIS. They will monitor decisions made by the heads of states and supreme bodies and be in charge of their fulfillment. 

The following documents were signed at the summit:

  • Agreement on counteraction to criminal money laundering and financing terrorism; 
  • Agreement on cooperation in the fight against theft of cultural values and their restitution; 
  • Intergovernmental program of the joint measures against crime for 2008-2010; 
  • Program of cooperation in combating trafficking of drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors for 2008-2010;  
  • Program of cooperation in the fight against terrorism and other violent manifestations of extremism for 2008-2010;  
  • Agreement on formation of a Council of Heads of the CIS migration agencies; 
  • Protocol on approval of the statute of interaction between the CIS borderguard agencies in providing help when the external frontiers crises arise and are settled;  
  • Agreement on official and legal guarantees to the personnel of the Collective Forces maintaining the peace in the CIS;  
  • Agreement on order of financial, technical and security support for activity of the Collective Forces maintaining the peace in the CIS.  

On August 14, 2008 the Georgian Parliament unanimously voted for Georgia's withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States. President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili put forward this proposal on August 12. The MPs invalidated the documents regulating Georgia's being the CIS member state: the Decision on Creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (1991), the CIS Charter (1993) and the Economic Relations Treaty (1993). However, according to Article 9 of the CIS Charter, a state, which is going to withdraw from the CIS, must notify the Charter depositary (Belarus) of the withdrawal 12 months before it. 

On October 9, 2008 the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the CIS member states at the meeting in Bishkek complied with Tbilisi’s request and took a decision to exclude Georgia from the CIS.
On June 12, 2009 the Georgian Parliament unanimously adopted two resolutions “On the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly” according to which the procedure of Georgia’s withdrawal from the CIS formally came to an end.
Officially Georgia stopped being the CIS member state on August 18, 2009.
Major Objectives
  • Cooperation in political, economic, ecological, humanitarian, cultural and other spheres
  • Development of equal and mutually profitable partnerships through creation of the free trade area
  • Protection of human rights and basic freedoms in accordance with the established standards of international law and the OSCE papers
  • Strengthening of international peace and security; implementation of effective measures for reduction of the arms race and military expenses; liquidation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction
  • Promotion of conditions for free interaction between the CIS member states’ citizens
  • Providing mutual legal assistance
  • Fighting against the organized crime, international terrorism and other extremist actions
  • Peaceful settlement of controversies and conflicts between the CIS member states.
Documents

The CIS activity is adjusted by the following agreements:

  • The Agreement on creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States Doc (37 Kb)
  • The Charter of the Commonwealth of Independent States Doc (64 Kb)
  • The Alma-Ata Declaration of the CIS member states
  • The Agreement on creation of the Economic Union
Managing Bodies

The interaction of the CIS member states is accomplished through its coordinating institutions:

  • Council of the Heads of States

This is a supreme body of the CIS, which discusses and solves any principle questions of the Organization connected with the common interests of the member states.

The Council of Heads of States meets twice a year. Its extraordinary sessions can be convened on the initiative of the one of the member states.

  • Council of the Heads of Governments

The Council coordinates cooperation of the executive authorities of the member states in economic, social and other spheres of their common interests.
Decisions of the Council of the Heads of States and the Council of the Heads of Governments are adopted by consensus.

  • Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (IPA)

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.

  • Economic Court

Every member state nominates two judges to the Plenum of the Court. Judges are elected for 10-year term. The Court can sit in either: chambers created for one-year period (3 or 5 judges); or full Court consisting of all judges of the Court; or Plenum constituted out of judges of the Court and head judges of the supreme commercial and arbitral courts of the member states. The seat of the Court is in the city of Minsk, Belarus.

  • Council of Foreign Ministers

It is the main executive body ensuring cooperation in the field of foreign policy of the member states. It makes decisions during the period between the meetings of the Council of the Heads of States, the Council of the Heads of Governments and by their orders.

  • Council of Defense Ministers

This body is responsible for military policy of the member states. Its working organ is a Staff which coordinates military cooperation of the CIS member states.

  • Economic Council

The main executive body which ensures implementation of the decisions of the Council of the Heads of States and the Council of the Heads of Governments on realization of the agreement on creation of the free trade zone, and on other matters of socio-economic cooperation.

Personalities

Sergei Lebedev, Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, the CIS Executive Secretary

Links

Official Website of the CIS



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