CIS to undergo reforms
By Nazrin Gadimova
The CIS will undergo reforms during the jubilee session of the CIS Heads of State Council to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on September 16, 2016.
This was announced during the regular session of the Council of Permanent Representatives of the CIS member states, held on February 9, 2016.
Kyrgyzstan's Resident Representative in CIS charter bodies and other agencies Kubanychbek Omuraliyev believes that CIS will continue working, but it needs some transformation.
“There are some aspects concerning the CIS agencies that need to be revised,” he said. “This process occurs in such organizations as the OSCE, the UN, and the European Union. The CIS has already existed for 25 years and now it is time to optimize its structure.”
Currently, there are about 70 authorized and specialized bodies in the CIS. Thus, optimization will be carried out precisely in order to cut away redundant functions.
Omuraliyev added that thanks to these reforms, financial costs would be reduced, while performance will grow up.
The bill is supposed to be worked out during the CIS Foreign Ministers Council session to be held in Moscow on April 8, 2016. This document will deal with cooperation in politics, exchange of geospatial data and personal data, the execution of court rulings, and equal university admission rights for citizens of the CIS member states.
Moreover, during the session, parties prepared a draft agenda of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, to be held on April 8, 2016. This draft includes issues relating to cooperation policy, the exchange of geospatial information and personal data, execution of court decisions, as well as granting equal rights for admission to higher education institutions to citizens of the Commonwealth countries. Some documents are devoted to cooperation in the fields of health, culture, establishment of basic organizations in various fields.
The Permanent Representatives also discussed upcoming events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the CIS, as well as the draft agenda of the next meeting, and a joint meeting of the Permanent Representatives of the Council and the Commission on Economic Affairs of the CIS Economic Council.
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.
On December 21, 1991, the leaders of eight former Soviet Republics – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, thus bringing the number of participating countries to 11.
The CIS is a loose association of states. Possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security, CIS has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention.
Furthermore, eight of the nine CIS member states participate in the CIS Free Trade Area, and five of these form the Eurasian Economic Union, a customs union and single market of over 180 million people.
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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova
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