Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus Friday launched a drive to re-integrate the former Soviet Union, with the signing of an ambitious economic union treaty, drawing protests from western-leaning Ukrainian politicians hoping to block the union coming to life, reports the Financial Times.
The union, called the „United Economic Space,“ would have no internal trade barriers or customs, according to the agreement signed by the countries‘ presidents at a summit in Yalta. The four members, who invited other ex-Soviet states to join later, also agreed to co-ordinate virtually all aspects of economic policy, but stopped short of calling for a common currency.
The treaty foresees implementation in stages, including commitments by members to surrender some sovereignty to a council of heads of state and a central commission. Participation in each stage would be optional — a feature demanded by Ukraine, which says it is planning to opt out of the customs union in order to preserve its hope of joining the European Union. The treaty is favored most strongly in Ukraine by industrial lobbies that hope it will give them access to natural gas at Russia’s cheap domestic prices.
Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland) notes that the EU has served as model example for the United Economic Space. A monetary union was however not a topic of discussion, though two member countries, Russia and Belarus, have something like that planned for 2005, though it remains to be see, how that will work out. The development of a joint economic space is expected to take seven years. But given the very different levels of economic development of the member economies, and just as varied economic interests, together with the political and military superpower of Russia — which is being perceived as a latent threat almost everywhere in the neighborhood — the creation of a customs union will not be an easy exercise.
Die Welt (Germany) writes that the new agreement is vague document due to its non-committal character. This document is just another sequel to a decade-old debate, this time with a different approach.