The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (Russian: Содружество Независимых Государств, СНГ) is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics.
The CIS is comparable to a confederation similar to the original European Community. 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. It has also promoted cooperation on democratization and cross-border crime prevention. As a regional organization, CIS participates in UN peacekeeping forces. Some of the members of the CIS have established the Eurasian Economic Community with the aim of creating a full-fledged common market. However, other member states have shown greater interest in seeking to join NATO and the European Union. [wikipedia.com]
Countries:* Armenia *Azerbaijan *Belarus *Georgia *Kazakhstan *Kyrgyzstan *Moldova *Russia *Tajikistan *Turkmenistan *Ukraine *Uzbekistan
1) What is Csi? there are the same relationship among the countries as the Soviet Era? Are the countries free to choose something on their own?
2) What do you think about the Ucraine position in this situation?[[ 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.]]
I can't find a lot of stuff about this topic..if someone could explain something more technic and interesting.....