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Commonwealth of Independent States |
(CIS), voluntary association of 12 former
Soviet republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus,
 Georgia,
Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia,
Tajikistan, Turmenistan,
Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The signing of the CIS founding documents in Almaty (formerly Alma-Ata), Kazakstan, on Dec. 21, 1991, marked the
formal dissolution of the USSR. The president of Azerbaijan was an
initial signatory, but the parliament voted against ratification in
1992. Azerbaijan joined the CIS in 1993, as did Georgia.The CIS
declarations bound all member republics to cooperate “on an equal basis”
in foreign, military, and economic policy. Although the accords called
for the establishment of two coordinating bodies, the Council of Heads
of State and the Council of Heads of Government, the documents defined
the commonwealth as “neither a state nor a super-state structure.” The
conferees pledged to fulfill all international treaty obligations
incurred by the USSR. Nuclear weapons were initially placed under a
unified military command, with the Russian president responsible for
their safekeeping, but this joint command was abolished in 1993.
Throughout the mid-1990s, the CIS member countries remained divided over
the shape and direction the commonwealth should take. While the CIS
languished, Russia concluded a series of bilateral and multilateral
cooperation agreements with other members, notably Belarus. |
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Organization membership |
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Armenia |
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Azerbaijan |
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Belarus |
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Georgia |
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Kazakhastan |
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Kyrgyzstan |
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Moldova |
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Russian Federation |
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Tajikistan |
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Turmenistan |
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Ukraine |
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Uzbekistan |
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