Georgia won't join CIS
By Nazrin Gadimova
Georgia will not accept the proposal of Belarus to join the free
trade area of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
Georgian Prime Minister's Special Representative for Relations with
Russia Zurab Abashidze told journalists on November 25.
Free trade areas of the European Union and the CIS are mutually
exclusive, "they are not matched, even though we have the right to
monitor political developments, so we will proceed accordingly,"
Abashidze said.
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a regional international
organization regulating relations between the states that were part
of the USSR, was established on December 8, 1991. Georgia joined
CIS on December 3, 1993, and ratified the charter of the community
on April 19, 1994.
In August 2008, Tbilisi broke off relations with Moscow when Russia
crushed a Georgian assault to reassert control over two rebel
regions - South Ossetia and Abkhazia - and later recognized the
regions, after which ,Georgian Parliament unanimously decided on
Georgia's withdrawal from the organization.
On October 18, 2011, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Tajikistan signed a Free Trade Agreement of
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CISFTA).