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http://www.economywatch.com/in-the-news/us-warns-of-russian-efforts-to-resovietise-eastern-europe.07-12.html
By: EW News Desk Team Date: 7 December 2012
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EconomyWatch, News Desk Team
07 December 2012
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday criticised Russia’s efforts to create a new Eurasian Union; and accused Moscow of attempting "to re-Sovietise the region” under the ruse of deeper economic integration.
Clinton, who was speaking at a meeting with the 57-member Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Dublin, said that the U.S. was extremely concerned by Russia’s growing influence within Eastern Europe and Central Asia; and made clear that U.S. would figure out how "to slow down or prevent” Moscow’s bid for hegemony.
"Let’s make no mistake about it…it’s going to be called a customs union, it will be called Eurasian Union and all of that…but we (the U.S.) know what the goal is and we are trying to figure out effective ways to slow down or prevent it,” Clinton said, as cited by the Financial Times.
In early October 2011, Russian President (and then-Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin wrote an article entitled "A New Integration Project for Eurasia: A Future That is Born Today”. In it, Putin proposed the creation of a vast economic bloc known as the Eurasian Union, which would enable its member states to "become leaders of global growth and civilized progress, and to attain success and prosperity.”
Related: Putin Proposes 'Eurasian Union' With Old Soviet Union Neighbours
Related: Putin Calls for Merger With Ukraine on Energy
Related: Energy: Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan – Linked and Divided by Oil Pipelines
Although Putin himself denied that this was a move to re-establish the USSR, Clinton noted that efforts at regional hegemony had been accompanied by new campaigns of repression from pro-Moscow regimes throughout the former Soviet Union.
"More than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, the work of creating a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace remains unfinished,” she said, as cited by AFP. "It’s distressing that 20 years into the post-Soviet era . . . so many of the hoped-for indicators of progress are retreating. And the impact on individuals and organisations is becoming more oppressive.”
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, however later slammed the U.S. Secretary of State’s comments as "a completely wrong understanding” of integration efforts.
"What we see on the territory of the ex-Soviet Union is a new type of integration, based only on economic integration. Any other type of integration is totally impossible in today’s world,” he said.
Related: A New Russian Empire: What Exactly Is Putin Planning?
Related: Russia’s Roulette: Will Moscow Risk Its Relationships With The US & Europe?
Related: Tensions Brew In The Caspian Sea With Russia’s Latest Move
Andrew Weiss, who served on the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton and now is at the US Rand Corporation think-tank, also told FT that a USSR-like union was unlikely, even though Putin does intend to bolster Russia’s influence in its neighbourhood.
"Elites in the neighbouring states [still] show little enthusiasm for simply handing over their autonomy and sovereignty to Moscow,” Weiss said.