Kyrgyzstan officially joined the Eurasian Economic Union

On August 12 the agreement on Kyrgyzstan's accession to the EES took effect.

Kyrgyzstan has become a full-fledged member of the Union along with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Accession of Kyrgyzstan to the EAEU, says the webpage of the Eurasian Economic Commission, “was preceded by major joint efforts to ensure integration and convergence”. Thus, in 2014, the road maps for accession of Kyrgyzstan to “the Eurasian integration project, which would facilitate the adaptation of its national economy to the EAEU legislation and practices”, have been implemented.

“The accession to the EAEU opened up new opportunities for Kyrgyzstan. No more barriers to the free movements of goods, services, capital and workforce. The new investment opportunities and prospects to develop major infrastructure projects, primarily in the energy industry, transportation and agriculture, are opened up. The citizens of Kyrgyzstan now gain the right to be employed in any state of the Union on equal terms with citizens of their employment state”, - is said in the statement.

As RFE/RL writes, the Eurasian Economic Union aims to create a single market for the free movement of goods and services over a total population of more than 180 million people, similar to the 28-nation European Union.

It is one of a handful of security and economic alliances that Russian President Vladimir Putin has used in an attempt to bolster Moscow's influence in the former Soviet Union and counter the EU and NATO.

Nursultan Nazarbaev was the initiator of the idea of a trade bloc, but he and Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenka - wary of ceding any sovereignty to Russia - have stressed that it should stay out of politics.

Russia pushed hard for Ukraine to join the bloc, but opponents saw it as an attempt by Moscow to increase its influence and essentially reconstitute the Soviet Union.

The issue was a key factor in the upheaval in Ukraine, where President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted in February 2014 following months of pro-European protests sparked by his abrupt decision to scrap plans for a landmark pact with the European Union and build up economic ties with Russia.