FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS BREAK FREE
Richard Beeston, London

The Times
25may06

ONE of the last vestiges of the Soviet Union appeared to be crumbling
yesterday, when four former republics signalled they would be pulling
out of the organisation established to keep the Kremlin connected
with its lost empire.

At a meeting in Kiev, the leaders of the pro-Western states of
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine pledged to form their own
association to promote democratic values.

They also hinted they would leave the Commonwealth of Independent
States, which was created 15 years ago as a group representing most
of the former Soviet republics.

While the CIS never fulfilled any great economic or political function,
its very existence was supposed to reflect Moscow’s continued influence
from Eastern Europe to the Caucasus and on to Central Asia.

But ties between the Kremlin and some of its former client states
have deteriorated with a wave of democratic movements that swept
pro-Western leaders into power in Georgia and Ukraine and encouraged
anti-Russian sentiment in Azerbaijan and Moldova.

The new group, to be called the Organisation for Democracy and Economic
Development, will be based in Kiev.

It will rival the CIS, which is based in Minsk, the capital of
Belarus, where it is headed by Vladimir Rushailo, a tough former
Russian interior minister.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said: “Our citizens are giving
us a mandate to develop strong, democratic and successful states.”

The move is seen as a huge snub to Moscow, which has not been invited
to join.

It faces the prospect of being left in a CIS of eight states including
Belarus, regarded as the last dictatorship in Europe; Armenia; and
the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan.

The splits within the CIS ranks have been growing in recent months.

Moscow, which backed Mr Yushchenko’s opponent in the Ukrainian
elections, clashed with Ukraine this year when it suspended gas sales,
causing an energy crisis across Europe in the middle of winter.

The Kremlin has also argued openly with Tbilisi over Russian support
for two breakaway regions in Georgia and its reluctant withdrawal of
troops from the country.

Moscow’s recent decision to ban the import of Georgian and Moldovan
wine, on the spurious ground that they contain pesticides, has further
strained ties.

Azerbaijan has provoked the ire of Moscow by developing close ties
with the US and building an oil pipeline to pump crude from the
Caspian Sea to Turkey, bypassing traditional Russian control over
energy supply routes.

Moldova signalled yesterday that it might be the first country to
quit the CIS.

President Vladimir Voronin said the issue would soon be debated in
parliament, where the move was likely to be approved.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said his country was also
debating the value of remaining in the CIS, and that the question of
withdrawal would come up before parliament in a few months.

“Many in Georgia have been very critical of the CIS, of its
performance, of its efficiency, and we, as a government, are
accountable to the people’s concerns,” he told Britain’s The Times
during a visit to London.

He said Georgia had attempted to make the CIS more efficient and
capable of dealing with important bilateral disputes, such as the
Russian wine ban, but that the CIS was incapable of addressing
real issues.

“What is the sense in having an organisation that fails to discuss
basic issues that affect the countries concerned?” Mr Nogaideli said.

“It seems to me that Russia itself is not interested in the CIS,
in reality. They want to keep it as an organisation, but they don’t
want it to be an effective and functional organisation.

“Russia only keeps it for prestige.”