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Commonwealth of Independent States

(Abbr. CIS)

An association of former Soviet republics that was established in December 1991 by Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus to help ease the dissolution of the Soviet Union and coordinate interrepublican affairs. Other members include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

 

 
 
Political Dictionary: Commonwealth of Independent States

CIS

The CIS was formed by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (formerly Byelorussia) in Minsk on 8 December 1991. With the exception of Georgia and the Baltic states, other former Soviet republics joined in Alma-Ata on 21 December. Georgia became a member in 1993. The creation of the CIS precipitated the final demise of the Soviet Union. Whilst moves have been made to develop the CIS as the basis of a free trade area or defence pact, progress has been largely determined by bilateral relations between Russia and the separate states.

— Stephen Whitefield

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Commonwealth of Independent States

Free association of sovereign states formed in 1991, comprising Russia and 11 other republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. Members are Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova. Its administrative center is in Minsk, Belarus. The Commonwealth's functions are to coordinate its members' policies regarding their economies, foreign relations, defense, immigration policies, environmental protection, and law enforcement.

For more information on Commonwealth of Independent States, visit Britannica.com.

 
Russian History Encyclopedia: Commonwealth of Independent States

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was established on December 8, 1991, in the Belovezh Accords, which also brought an end to the Soviet Union. These accords were signed by leaders from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and on December 21, 1991, in the Almaty Delcaration and Proctocol to these accords, eight additional states (Moldavia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkemenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan) confirmed their intention to join the CIS and accept the demise of the Soviet state. Georgia joined the CIS in December 1993, bringing total membership to twelve states (the Baltic republics of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia never joined). The organization had several goals, including coordination of members' foreign and security policies, development of a common economic space, fostering human rights and inter-ethnic concord, maintenance of the military assets of the former USSR, creation of shared transportation and communications networks, environmental security, regulation of migration policy, and efforts to combat organized crime. The CIS had a variety of institutions through which it attempted to accomplish these goals: Council of Heads of State, Council of Heads of Government, Council of Foreign Ministers, Council of Defense Ministers, an inter-parliamentary assembly, Executive Committee, Anti-Terrorism Task Force, and the Interstate Economic Committee of the Economic Union.

Although in a sense the CIS was designed to replace the Soviet Union, it was not and is not a separate state or country. Rather, the CIS is an international organization designed to promote cooperation among its members in a variety of fields. Its headquarters are in Minsk, Belarus. Over the years, its members have signed dozens of treaties and agreements, and some hoped that it would ultimately promote the dynamic development of ties among the newly independent post-Soviet states. By the late 1990s, however, the CIS lost most of its momentum and was victimized by internal rifts, becoming, according to some observers, largely irrelevant and powerless.

From its beginning, the CIS had two main purposes. The first was to promote what was called a "civilized divorce" among the former Soviet states. Many feared the breakup of the Soviet Union would lead to political and economic chaos, if not outright conflict over borders. The earliest agreements of the CIS, which provided for recognition of borders, protection of ethnic minorities, maintenance of a unified military command, economic cooperation, and periodic meetings of state leaders, arguably helped to maintain some semblance of order in the region, although one should note that the region did suffer some serious conflicts (e.g., war between Armenia and Azerbaijan and civil conflicts in Tajikistan, Moldova, and Georgia).

The second purpose of the CIS was to promote integration among the newly independent states. On this score, the CIS had not succeeded. The main reason is that while all parties had a common interest in peacefully dismantling the old order, there has been no consensus among these states as to what (if anything) should replace the Soviet state. Moreover, the need to develop national political and economic systems took precedence in many states, dampening enthusiasm for any project of reintegration. CIS members have also been free to sign or not sign agreements as they see fit, creating a hodgepodge of treaties and obligations among CIS states.

One of the clearest failures of the CIS has been on the economic front. Although the member states pledged cooperation, things began to break down early on. By 1993, the ruble zone collapsed, with each state issuing its own currency. In 1993 and 1994, eleven CIS states ratified a Treaty on an Economic Union (Ukraine joined as an associate member). A free-trade zone was proposed in 1994, but by 2002 it still had not yet been fully established. In 1996 four states (Russia, Belarus, Krygyzstan, Kazakhstan) created a Customs Union, but others refused to join. All these efforts were designed to increase trade, but, due to a number of factors, trade among CIS countries has lagged behind targeted figures. More broadly speaking, economic cooperation has suffered because states had adopted economic reforms and programs with little regard for the CIS and have put more emphasis on redirecting their trade to neighboring European or Asian states.

Cooperation in military matters fared little better. The 1992 Tashkent Treaty on Collective Security was ratified by a mere six states. While CIS peacekeeping troops were deployed to Tajikistan and Abkhazia (a region of Georgia), critics viewed these efforts as Russian attempts to maintain a sphere of influence in these states. As a "Monroeski Doctrine" took hold in Moscow, which asserted special rights for Russia on post-Soviet territory, and Russia used its control over energy pipelines to put pressure on other states, there was a backlash by several states against Russia, which weakened the CIS. After September 11, 2001, the CIS created bodies to help combat terrorism, and some hoped that this might bring new life to the organization.

Bibliography

Heenan, Patrick, and Lamontagne, Monique, eds. (1999). The CIS Handbook. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn.

Olcott, Martha Brill; Aslund, Anders; and Garnett, Sherman. (1999). Getting It Wrong: Regional Cooperation and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Sakwa, Richard, and Webber, Mark. (1999). "The Commonwealth of Independent States, 1991 - 1998: Stagnation and Survival." Europe-Asia Studies 51:379 - 415.

—PAUL J. KUBICEK

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS), community of independent nations established by a treaty signed at Minsk, Belarus, on Dec. 8, 1991, by the heads of state of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Between Dec. 8 and Dec. 21, the three original signatories were joined by Armenia, Azerbaijan (its parliament, however, rejected ratifying its membership until 1993), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. When Georgia joined in 1993 all of the former republics of the USSR except the Baltic states had become members of the CIS. Its headquarters are in Minsk.

The organization was conceived as the successor to the USSR in its role of coordinating the foreign and economic policies of its member nations. The treaty recognized current borders and each republic's independence, sovereignty, and equality, and established a free-market ruble zone embracing the republics' interdependent economies and a joint defense force for participating republics. Strategic nuclear weapons, in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine, were to be under the joint control of those republics, with day-to-day authority in the hands of the Russian president and defense minister; Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, however, no longer possess such weapons. The CIS at first convened only a council of the heads of state of its members, but in 1992 it convened a council of heads of government and a council of foreign ministers.

The republics' level of receptivity to integration with Russia has varied. All CIS nations now have their own currency, and most members have had occasion to criticize Russia for slow implementation of CIS agreements. Ukraine (which had a prolonged disagreement with Russia over the disposition of the Black Sea and remains wary of Russian power, particularly after Russia took sides in the 2004 presidential election), Turkmenistan (whose large gas reserves free it from dependence on Russia), Azerbaijan (whose oil reserves also allow for independence from Russia), and Moldova (which faced an insurgency in the Russian-dominated Trans-Dniester region) have been relatively inactive in the alliance, and in 2005 Turkmenistan became an associate member. Armenia (surrounded by the Muslim nations of Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey), Georgia (with separatist movements in Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan (vulnerable because of its limited natural resources) accepted Russia's protection under a joint defense system and Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan also signed the Collective Security Treaty, but Azerbaijan and Georgia have since withdrawn from the defense agreement. In 2002 the treaty adherents agreed to establish the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which superseded the CIS as a forum for military cooperation in 2005. Uzbekistan, which had suspended its treaty membership in 1998, joined the CSTO in 2006.

Because the CIS has remained essentially a regional forum, progress toward the integration of its member nations has tended to take place outside the organization. In 1996, Belarus signed a treaty with Russia to coordinate their defense and foreign policy apparatus and to eliminate trade restrictions and eventually unite their currencies. Individual sovereignty is to be maintained, but they created supranational bodies to effect these changes. The two nations have since signed several follow-up agreements, but actual progress toward integration has been slow. They, Kazakhstan (which has a large Russian community), and Kyrgyzstan additionally agreed to pursue economic integration without customs restrictions. Tajikistan later joined the customs union, which became the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) in 2000. Several other CIS members are EurAsEC observers. In 2003, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine agreed to form a Single Economic Space; the treaty was ratified the following year. Meanwhile, concerns over Russian domination of the CIS prompted Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova to establish a loose international association; from 1999 to 2005 Uzbekistan also was a member.

 
Wikipedia: Commonwealth of Independent States
Содружество Независимых Государств
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States
Location of the Commonwealth of Independent States
     Member state      Associate member
Headquarters Minsk, Belarus
Working language Russian
Type Commonwealth
Membership 11 member states
1 associate member
Leaders
 -  Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev
Establishment December 21 1991
Website
http://cis.minsk.by

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (Russian: Содружество Независимых Государств (СНГ), transliterated Sodruzhestvo Nyezavisimykh Gosudarstv) is the international organization, or alliance, 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 former 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 outside the Council of Defense Ministers
    • Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia (1993; withdrew from the Council in February 2006)
  • Former members/Associate members:
    • Flag of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan (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]

Executive bodies

  • Economic Council
  • Council of the Member-State Permanent Representatives
  • Executive Committee - Website

Agencies for economic cooperation

The following list is not inclusive. As of April 2006, the total number of the CIS agencies was about seventy.
  • 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 article: 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 article: 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.[citation needed]

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

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. ^ Socor, Vladimir. "Uzbekistan Accedes to Collective Security Treaty Organisation", The Jamestown Foundation, June 27, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-02-17. 
  14. ^ http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2003/370301.shtml
  15. ^ http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-163819.html

External links

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Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Members Armenia · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Georgia · Kazakhstan · Kyrgyzstan · Moldova · Russia · Tajikistan · Ukraine · Uzbekistan CIS flag
Associate members Turkmenistan
Central Asian regional organizations
Central Asia plus Japan · Collective Security Treaty Organization · Commonwealth of Independent States · Economic Cooperation Organization · Eurasian Economic Community · Shanghai Cooperation Organization

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