Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 7 /Trend V.Zhavoronkova/
It is early to write the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) off as the organization, North South Political Centre General Director and member of the Trend Expert Council Alexei Vlasov said.
"In spite of everything, it is too early to write the CIS off," Vlasov told Trend via e-mail on Friday.
On Wednesday, Ashgabat hosted the CIS summit in which the sides discussed urgent issues of cooperation and outlined the prospects for the future. The summit participants repeatedly raised energy issues and energy projects in Central Asia within the framework of the organization.
According to observers, the CIS as an organization is unlikely to be regarded as a structure that can really solve certain problems.
Vlasov said the CIS - is the most extensive area with the least strong connections and fuzzy amount of responsibility.
"Of course the CIS as an integration association is inferior to such structures as the Customs Union and CSTO by importance," Vlasov noted.
But at the same time there is possibility for more clearly articulating the area of responsibility of the organization during the last few years, he said.
According to expert, it is, above all, humanitarian, educational, and socio-cultural spheres.
He noted that at present the CIS - is a kind of presidential club, in which it is possible to discuss the essential issues of multilateral relations in the frame of informal dialogue.
Moreover, the free trade zone of the CIS, which includes several countries, can be a major foundation for the development of new integration tracks, Vlasov said.
According to him, with respect to energy, it is unlikely that major energy issues will be decided in the format of the CIS summit.