By The Eurasia Commision.
To read full report: Euroasia economic integration
The Eurasian Union is said to be the brainchild of Vladimir Putin in the wake of his third term as the President of Russia. If realised, it would comprise a number of states which were part of the former Soviet Union: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
At a November 2011 round table in Moscow organised by the ruling United Russia party, Russian political scientist Dmitry Orlov stated that apart from post-Soviet states, membership to the Eurasian Union could be expanded to include other countries that have been historically or culturally close, such as Finland,Hungary, the Czec Republic, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Mongolia, Cuba and Venezuela, incorporating them into a common state body where Russian would be the common language of communication and economic cooperation.
Vladimir Putin stated in November 2011 that the Eurasian Union would build upon the “best values of the Soviet Union”; however, critics claimed that the drive towards integration aims to restore the “Soviet Empire”.
