Union Euroasiatica

Stiftung
Wissenschaft und
Politik
German Institute
for International and
Security Affairs

Vladimir Putin’s Eurasian Union
A New Integration Project for the CIS Region?
Uwe Halbach
After declaring his candidacy in the 2012 presidential elections, Russia’s Prime Minister
Putin announced a “Eurasian Union” as the target of an amplified integration process
within the CIS region. Thisventure raises a series of questions. Is this a case of election
campaigning, or is it the setting of a foreign policy agenda? Is this really a new integration project, or a continuation of Putin’s policy towards the post-Soviet region? Putin
was clear in one regard: the objective is not to re-establish the Soviet Union, but rather
to create a “powerful supra-national union” of sovereign states,which stands on equal
footing with the USA and China as well as the major regional organisations. He placed
particular emphasis on the partnership with the European Union. First and foremost,
however, Putin is likely fixated on Russia’s position in the post-Soviet region, the main
priority in terms of foreign policy.
According to Gleb Pavlovsky, a former
adviser to the President and currentlythe leader of a Russian think tank, every
presidential election since 1996 has been
accompanied by announcements about
intentions of reintegrating the post-Soviet
region. Putin clarified through his spokesperson that the Eurasian Union has nothing to do with the election campaign, but is
instead a main priority for Russia’s foreign
policy over the coming years. Within the
“All-RussiaPeople’s Front” that he created,
an organisation arose that wants to fight
for the creation of this union. One of its
spokespeople understands this to entail a
“unified social, cultural and information
space on the territory of the former USSR
and the Russian Empire”.

As President, Putin repeatedly spoke in
regard to the USSR’s disintegration. The
most well-known of these statements washis address to the Federal Assembly on 25
April 2005 during which he characterised
the collapse of the Soviet Union as the
greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the past
century. On other occasions, however, he
excluded the possibility of the Union’s reestablishment.
According to Putin, the Eurasian Union
is far removed from “any sort of resurrection of the Soviet Union”. He treats it as a“powerful supra-national union” of sovereign states “that is capable of becoming a
pillar in today’s world”. It should serve as
a connection between Europe and the
“dynamic Asian-Pacific region”. This calls

Dr. Uwe Halbach is a researcher in SWP’s Russian Federation / CIS division

SWP Comments 1
January 2012

1

SWP Comments

Introduction

to mind earlier recommendations by theformer President Putin and his successor
Medvedev aimed at Brussels and Berlin.
Putin delivered this concept with the call
for a “multipolar world” during a speech at
the Munich security conference in February
2007 and most recently with a recommendation for an “economic region from Lisbon
to Vladivostok”.
The “new integration project” introduced by Putin in a guest article for the
Iswestijaon 4 October 2011 is predominantly presented in economic terms. The
integration steps focus on joint industry,
technology and energy policies among the
member states, a common trade area, free
movement across borders “like in the EU
Schengen zone” and partnership with the
EU. Ultimately, the European-Eurasian
partnership is supposed to “change the geopolitical and geo-economic configurationof the entire continent”. The geopolitical
thrust is nothing new; this is another
Russian attempt to move against Europe’s
transatlantic linkage.

Stations along the Path of
“New Integration”
The point of departure for the Eurasian
Union is the Customs Union that currently
exists between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which already covers three-quarters
of the post-Soviet region...