Eurasian integration not aimed at reincarnating USSR - Kazakh president
ASTANA. Jan 18 (Interfax) - Integration processes in Eurasia will not result in the establishment of a Soviet-style political union, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
"I would like to reiterate once again that Eurasian integration, which has been taking place at my personal initiative, Kazakhstan's initiative, has never been aimed at reincarnating any political union, especially the defunct USSR," he said at a meeting with foreign diplomats accredited in Kazakhstan on Friday.
The Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, formed by Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, launched full-fledged operations last year, Nazarbayev said. The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council and the Eurasian Economic Commission are also functioning, he added.
"At our recent meeting in December, the leaders of the three states [Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus] reaffirmed their commitment to further creating the Eurasian Economic Union. We will continue moving toward this goal," he said.
"Eurasian integration is our economic advantage over the challenges of the global industrial revolution. We are eager to make a joint breakthrough toward new technologies and systems. But, at the same time, both Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus remain independent states with their own national interests," Nazarbayev said.
"In this context, any doubts about Eurasian integration are groundless. It is speculation by the media and individual politicians who are still living by Cold War principles," he said.