Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus have avoided politicizing the agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) while drawing up the document.

The remarks were made by Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Samat Ordabayev on May 26.

Speaking at a press conference in Astana, Ordabayev said the whole backbone of the EEU agreement is just economic cooperation.

"Issues such as common citizenship, foreign policy, inter-parliamentary cooperation, passport and visa spheres, common border protection, export control, and others were excluded from the agreement thanks to Kazakhstan's consistent position," he said.

The agreement on the EEU consists of two parts: institutional and functional.

The Kazakh deputy foreign minister noted that in addition to the institutional part of the EEU agreement and its three annexes (regulation on the Eurasian Economic Commission, regulation on the status of the EEU Court, and social guarantees, privileges, and immunities within the union), the parties agreed upon two more documents.

"This is the order of conducting international activities and preparing and concluding international EEU's agreements with third parties," the deputy minister added.

Ordabayev also said the last two documents include the principles of the EEU's international activities, and the activity of the EEU Commission as the main regulator.

"International agreements can only be developed and signed with the consent of the EEU supreme body -the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council- and under its mandate," he said.

The EEU agreement's institutional part, also called the political or constituent part, was under the responsibility of Kazakh Foreign Ministry and several other ministries and agencies.

Ordabayev believes the establishment of the EEU does not violate Kazakhstan's national interests.

The history of the EEU began in November 2011 with the signing of a series of documents, particularly a declaration on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Integration and an agreement on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Commission and its regulations.

The EEU is expected to start its operations on January 1, 2015. The main conditions for joining the organization are having unified tariffs and technical regulations, harmonizing labor and immigration legislation, and establishing a unified banking system.