Friday, May 30, 2014

Eurasian Union Aims to Link Economies of Europe, Asia

5/30/2014

ASTANA – The presidents of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus emphasized that the agreement they signed on Thursday to create the Eurasian Economic Union creates a bridge between the economies of Europe and Asia.

Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the pact is “an excellent opportunity” for his country, the official Kazinform news agency told Efe.

The agreement, inked at the Palace of Independence in Astana, will permit the free circulation of goods and suspend tariffs among the signatory nations.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin said that the pact will permit the broadening of the member nations’ joint market to 170 million people starting in January 2015, when the Union will enter into force.

Together, he said, the three countries hold 5 percent of the world’s reserves of natural gas and 15 percent of its petroleum reserves.

The president of Belarus, Alexandr Lukashenko, said that the agreement is the “beginning of political, military and human union.”

Nazarbayev, who 20 years ago outlined in a speech at the University of Moscow the first steps for the accord signed on Thursday, said that the treaty “is designed to improve our cooperation with the member states,” and he mentioned the spirit of cooperation and friendship among the three signatory nations.

Experts predict that in the coming two decades the economies of the three countries, taken together, will grow by 25 percent.

The three presidents noted on Thursday that the Union is open to the possible incorporation of other countries.


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