The Georgian foreign ministry said yesterday that all legal procedures related to the country's withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have been finalized.
"In August 2008, the Russian Federation, a member of the CIS, carried out a military aggression against another CIS member, Georgia, and occupied its territory. In this connection Georgia has made the decision to withdraw from the CIS," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Politically, the decision was already taken a year ago. On 18 August 2008, the Georgian Ministry of foreign affairs sent a note to the CIS Executive Committee notifying it of the Parliament's aforesaid decisions and the country’s withdrawal from the CIS. According to the body charter, termination of CIS membership takes effect 12 months after the receipt of a written notification. Therefore, the formal procedure of Georgia's withdrawal from the CIS was technically completed on 18 August 2009.
Ukraine next to go?
At the same time, the Russian press announced that the president of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko will not attend the CIS summit, due on 9 October in Chisinau, Moldova. The reports are based on sources from Kiev. Ukraine, although being one of the three founders of the CIS, never ratified its statute.
But the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Vladimir Litvin, said he did not believe his country was bound to leave the CIS.
“I don’t think Ukraine will leave the CIS, the parliament of Ukraine will not adopt such a decision,” said Litvin, quoted by Moscow Echo radio station. He added that such a move would end up in a “bigger political mess” and would hurt the interests of Ukrainians.
Asked to comment if these developments were not a sign of the end of the CIS, a Russian political scientist answered that it was Georgia, not the CIS, who was ‘dying’.
“Tbilissi’s decision to leave the organisation will only hurt Georgia, in fact, this country did not have a real participation in CIS affairs from a long time”, said Sergei Miheev, vice-president of the Centre for Political Technologies .
Miheev added that Georgia had joined the CIS out of self-interest, as many Georgian citizens work in Russia. In the second place, he said that Georgia used the CIS as a tool for pressuring Russia. “I don’t think that its departure is bad news for Russia, he concluded.”
Russian officials described the developments in a positive light.
"Georgia entered the CIS as a Trojan horse, cooperating with (Ukrainian President Viktor) Yushchenko," said Konstantin Zatulin, a member of the Russian Duma and director of the Institute of CIS Countries, quoted by international media.
"Both countries prevented the CIS from developing effectively," Zatulin added.
