Astana, Kazakhstan, April 24
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Eurasian Economic Union is a proof that the post-Soviet countries caught "second wind", Kazakh political analyst Eduard Poletaev believes.
"Skepticism associated with the prospects of post-Soviet interstate formations is that their "funerals" have been going on for ten years already. CIS for example was called a tool of civilized divorce, and it still exists today. In the subsequent years we should expect the post-Soviet formations to catch second wind," he said.
Poletaev made the remarks during the round table organized by the "World of Eurasia" fund on "Integration: EAU reached the signing stage" topic.
He went on to note that inter-state formations give political elites and ordinary people some sense of security.
"There are at least some things which we currently neither appreciate nor understand, although these are also tools of interaction, whether they are bilateral or multilateral," he said. "For example, there is a visa-free regime between Kazakhstan and many CIS countries - this already allows to avoid many complexities and very convenient for both for ordinary people and for businessmen."
Poletaev noted that today many countries are comfortable working together. He reminded that during the times of financial crisis, Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan created a joint 10 billion anti-crisis fund for supporting inter-state programs.
There are many examples when one could witness improvement within the framework of the customs regulation, standardization, the expert said.
"Fight against organized crime, for example, although not related to economy, but the program on mutual exchange of prisoners functions and eases the work of many countries in this sphere," Poletaev said.
Translated by S.I.
Edited by S.I.