Andrei Yahorau: Meetings at CIS level have ritual features rather than rich content

On May 31 heads of government held a CIS council meeting with the Prime Ministers from all six member-countries of the CIS.

This opinion in the talk with the EuroBelarus Information Service shared Andrei Yahorau, political scientist, the director of the Centre for European transformation.

The expert believes that meetings at CIS level allow resolving the problems of bilateral contacts rather than invest into some integration processes and revival of CIS aimed at making it real geopolitical structure.

On the whole, being a geopolitical structure, CIS has no real economic grounds, the political scientist believes. “It is exclusively an ideological political union - an alliance of states which haven’t proclaimed the western choice of development path; the path of democratic changes. CIS is a unique club for post-Soviet countries which refuse to follow the direction of the whole modern world”, - Andrei Yahorau described this structure.

Of course, some countries try to use CIS as an instrument for gaining profit in exchange for wheedling. However, as the political scientist highlighted, this international organization has no other economic grounds.

Simultaneously with CIS council meeting Minsk witnessed Forum of business groups. Does this event have any sense at all?

Andrei Yahorau compared this forum with cargo cult. During the Second World War in the isles of the Pacific Ocean American cargos brought food and other goods. In result the natives started building runways from straw and bamboo in order to make new goods arrive.