Decision to set up Eurasian Economic Union right, time to move forward - Kazakhstan’s president

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. The decision to set up the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was right, and it is time to move forward, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Monday. "We have passed the first uneasy year of the Eurasian Economic Union, got into a crisis. We knew there could be such costs," Nazarbayev said at the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Nevertheless, I think that we made a right decision, and it is time to move forward," he added. Nazarbayev proposed to discuss prospects of developing the union taking into account the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. "We should probably talk at the session of the Supreme (Eurasian Economic) Council about how to develop in the conditions created by the Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific Partnerships," the Kazakhstani president noted. Nazarbayev stated that the total GDP of EAEU countries fell by 30 percent, and trade turnover shrank as well. "However, our contacts, open borders, joint enterprises play a very important role," he noted. The Kazakhstani president said that this issue, along with such topics as Ukraine and Syria, will be discussed at today’s CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and EAEU summits. Nazarbayev added that he wanted to discuss military-technical cooperation between the two countries at the meeting with Putin. Eurasian Economic Union The Treaty on the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union was signed by the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on May 29, 2014 in Astana. The agreement is the basic document defining the accords between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan for creating the Eurasian Economic Union for the free movement of goods, services, capital and workforce and conducting coordinated, agreed or common policies in key sectors of the economy, such as energy, industry, agriculture and transport. The agreement stipulates the transition of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to the next stage of integration after the Customs Union and the common economic space. Kyrgyzstan and Armenia also joined the EAEU. Read more