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Kremlin Loses Its Grip On A Dying Empire

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  • Kremlin Loses Its Grip On A Dying Empire

    KREMLIN LOSES ITS GRIP ON A DYING EMPIRE
    By Richard Beeston

    The Times , UK
    May 24 2006

    Four former Soviet republics are set to abandon eastern commonwealth
    and look West.

    ONE of the last vestiges of the Soviet Union appeared to be crumbling
    yesterday, when four former republics signalled that they were 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 that
    they would leave the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), 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 in 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 will be called the Organisation for Democracy and
    Economic Development and 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.

    Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian President, 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 rowed 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 has strained ties further.

    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 may be the first country to quit
    the CIS. President Voronin said that the issue would soon be debated
    in parliament, where the move was likely to be approved.

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

    "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 The Times during a
    visit to London.

    He said that 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."
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