Kazakh president resigns after three decades in office

Yahoo – AFP, March 19, 2019

Nursultan Nazarbayev first took power in Kazakhstan during the Soviet era
(AFP Photo/ILYAS OMAROV)

Astana (Kazakhstan) (AFP) - Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his shock resignation on Tuesday, 29 years after taking office.

"I have taken the decision to resign from the post of presidency," the 78-year-old said in a speech broadcast on state television.

Nazarbayev came to power in oil-rich Kazakhstan when it was still a Soviet republic and has previously never indicated a successor.

"The mandate of the presidency will pass to the chairman of the senate for the remainder of my presidential term," Nazarbayev said, referring to the constitution.

The senate chair position is currently held by Nazarbayev loyalist Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 65, a former prime minister and career diplomat.

Nazarbayev's term expires in March 2020.

The move comes on the back of growing social discontent and an economy still recovering from an oil price plunge in 2014.

Western sanctions against Russia, a key trading partner, have also hit the economy.

The resignation comes just weeks after the ageing strongman dismissed the country's government.

Last month Nazarbayev announced a spending package of several billion dollars on social programmes and state salaries.

He also promised major investments in infrastructure.

Nazarbayev will enjoy significant policy-making powers following his resignation thanks to his constitutional status as "Leader of the Nation".

He became lifelong head of the country's security council last year.

Nazarbayev, who won a 2015 election with almost 98 percent of the vote, was widely expected to seek another term in 2020.

Caspian Sea nations sign landmark deal

Yahoo – AFP, Christopher RICKLETON, August 12, 2018

The Caspian Sea borders Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia and
Turkmenistan (AFP Photo/BEHROUZ MEHRI)

Aktau (Kazakhstan) (AFP) - The leaders of the five states bordering the resource-rich Caspian Sea signed a landmark deal Sunday on the legal status of the inland sea which boasts a wealth of oil and gas reserves and sturgeon.

The leaders of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan signed the agreement on the status of the inland sea, which has been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union rendered obsolete agreements between Tehran and Moscow.

The host, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said before the signing that the leaders were "participants in a historic event."

"We can admit that consensus on the status of the sea was hard to reach and not immediate, the talks lasted more than 20 years and called for a lot of joint efforts from the parties," Nazarbayev said.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whose country was seen as driving the deal, said the convention had "epoch-making significance" and called for more military cooperation between the countries on the Caspian.

Nazarbayev said the convention allows for the construction of underwater oil and gas pipelines as well as setting national quotas for fishing and forbids any foreign military presence.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was quick to hail the clause that prevents non-Caspian countries from deploying military forces.

"The Caspian Sea only belongs to the Caspian states," he said.

Putin also praised this clause, saying it would help "ensure the peaceful status of the Caspian Sea."

National boundaries

The deal provides a means of delimiting national boundaries in the sea whose underground energy resources are estimated at 50 billion barrels of oil and just under 300 trillion cubic feet (8.4 trillion cubic metres) of natural gas.

But Rouhani stressed several times during the summit that these boundaries still need to be worked out between the countries.

Iran, which ended up with the smallest share of the sea under the terms of the convention, is viewed as a potential loser in the deal.

Sunday's summit was the fifth of its kind since 2002 but there have been more than 50 lower-level meetings since the Soviet breakup spawned four new countries on the shores of the Caspian.

The deal goes some way to settling a long-lasting dispute on whether the Caspian is a sea or a lake -- which means it falls under different international laws.

A map of the Caspian Sea locating Aktau, in Kazakhstan, where a deal was 

signed Sunday by surrounding countries which ends decades of dispute over the 

inland sea rich in oil, gas and caviar. (AFP Photo/Valentina BRESCHI)

While the convention refers to the Caspian as a sea, provisions in the agreement give it "a special legal status", Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin told Kommersant daily earlier this week.

The agreement also offers hope for the Caspian's ecological diversity and its depleted stocks of the beluga sturgeon, whose eggs are prized globally as caviar.

While it remains to be seen how the deal will be implemented, the summit in Aktau was another opportunity for Moscow to present itself as a diplomatic deal-maker.

After years of unsuccessful negotiations on the Caspian the Kremlin "gains political kudos for breaking a log-jam," said John Roberts, a non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

Trans-Caspian plan

Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov greeted the deal enthusiastically as his country wants to send gas to markets in Europe via a long-planned Trans-Caspian underwater pipeline.

The project is billed as allowing European countries to ease their dependence on gas from Russia at a time of heightened geopolitical confrontation.

Nevertheless, Iran and Russia could still challenge the pipeline on ecological grounds. They have previously blocked the project, which could cost up to $5 billion to build and would have a projected capacity of 30 billion cubic metres per year.

Kate Mallinson, Associate Fellow for the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, urged caution over the prospects for the pipeline, saying the Aktau deal "is not a legal prerequisite for the construction."

"Neither will a major transport corridor to export Turkmen gas to Europe emerge overnight."

Xi and Putin driving Eurasia resurgence, says Duowei

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-07-13

Chinese president Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir
Putin in the Russian city of Ufa, July 10, 2015. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese president Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are actively driving the resurgence of Eurasia, reports Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet.

Xi and Putin were among the leaders who attended the "dual summit" of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa — and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan —in the Russian city of Ufa on July 8-10.

In his speech at the BRICS summit, Xi called for the formation of a community of responsibility and common destiny based on mutual political trust, economic integration and cultural tolerance.

The importance Xi has placed on the dual summits reflects China's growing investment in diplomacy as part of the country's continuing plan to comprehensively deepen reforms, Duowei said.

Since coming to power in November 2012 as general secretary of the Communist Party, Xi has sought to strengthen ties with Africa and Latin America, as well as build a new type of "major powers" relationship with the US, Duowei said, though it is clear that his primary focus is firmly on Eurasia.

According to Duowei, China's main strategic emphasis now is Xi's ambitious "Belt and Road" initiative, which aims to boost connectivity and cooperation among countries in Eurasia. The two-tier project comprising the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the sea-based Maritime Silk Road is likely to be tied in with the newly formed, Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank (NDB), formerly the BRICS Development Bank, and its US$100 billion emergency reserve fund, of which China is the largest contributor with a share of 41%.

China is not the only country aiming for a Eurasia resurgence, Duowei said, adding that Russia as well as other emerging nations have also been moving towards developing stategies of regional integration.

This is not surprising given Eurasia's strong potential, Duowei said. Eurasia accounts for 75% of the world's population and holds a significant portion of the world's mineral resources. Up to 60% of the world's gross national product is attributable to Eurasia, and three-quarters of the world's known energy resources are also found on the Eurasia mainland, Duowei added, noting that proper strategies and management will reap massive benefits for every party in the long run.

The three main powers in Eurasia are the European Union, Russia and China, Duowei said. The EU is struggling with the Greek debt crisis, while Russia is reeling from the economic sanctions imposed as a result of its annexation of the Crimean penninsula from Ukraine last year, leaving China as the most important driving force of the region, Duowei added.

The unprecendented level of cooperation and integration developing across Eurasia provides cause for optimism, notwithstanding the instability caused by sluggish economies, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, environmental pollution, territorial disputes and military conflicts, Duowei said.

For Beijing, a prosperous Eurasia is not only the key to reviving China's slowing economy, it is the road to greater international credibility and authority, Duowei said. While there is still much integration to be coordinated and many obstacles to overcome, China must face these problems head on if it intends to succeed, Duowei added.

A limited attendance meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads

of State Council in the Russian city of Ufa, July 10, 2015. (Photo/CFP)

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India, China and South Africa in Ufa, Russia, July 9, 2015. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

Beijing ratifies protocol for nuclear-weapon-free treaty in Central Asia

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-04-25

The 14th session of the 12th NPC Standing Committee held in the Great
Hall of the People in Beijing, April 24. (File photo/Xinhua)

China's top legislature on Friday ratified the protocol to the Treaty on Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) in Central Asia.

After approving the protocol, the National People's Congress Standing Committee declared that no security protocol or treaty will undermine the status of the NWFZ, and that all explanations and applications of the clauses in the protocol shall support the goal of the building of the NWFZ in Central Asia.

The protocol was signed by representatives of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States on May 6, 2014 in New York.

The protocol provides legally-binding assurances not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against parties to the NWFZ parties.

Enacted in 2009, the treaty commits the signatories, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, to refrain from developing, acquiring or possessing nuclear weapons.

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Ukraine's Poroshenko flags new talks with Putin, Merkel and Hollande

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says he'll meet with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France in mid-January over his country's ongoing conflict. The gathering will take place in Kazakhstan.

Deutsche Welle, 29 Dec 2014

Poroshenko made a new push to end the conflict in Ukraine's eastern regions on Monday, telling a news conference he would join Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande for talks on January 15, in the Kazakh capital Astana.

The Ukrainian president said he wanted eastern Ukraine, and Crimea, annexed by Russia in March, back under the control of Kyiv.

"The most important thing is to turn a fragile ceasefire into a stable peace and return previously occupied territories under the control of Ukrainian authorities," he said.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 4,600 people since April. But Poroshenko said Kyiv lacked the resources to regain full control by military means.

"We haven't got the resources for an offensive today," he said.

His comments come after the breakdown of the first talks in three months between Kyiv and pro-Russian separatists, last week in Minsk. However, the talks did produce a prisoner swap between both sides.

The meeting was meant to secure a shaky ceasefire agreed in Minsk back in September, as well as a withdrawal of heavy weapons by both Ukrainian government forces and the separatists. But it appeared both sides were reluctant to give any ground.

"Ukraine will never - and we are supported in this by the entire world - allow the (original September) Minsk agreements to be altered," Poroshenko said on Monday.

Poroshenko also said three Ukrainian soldiers had been killed during a battle at the disputed airport near rebel-held Donetsk.

Ukraine and the West have accused Moscow of stoking the fires of conflict in eastern Ukraine by supplying the separatists with troops and weapons, something the Kremlin has denied.

Meanwhile, Russia is experiencing deep economic troubles caused by lower oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed over the Ukraine conflict.

On Monday, it was announced that Russian growth declined for the first time since 2009 - with gross domestic product (GDP) falling by 0.5 percent in November, compared to the same month last year.

The ruble fell to $57 on the news on Monday morning. The Russian currency, which is one of the worst performing currencies of 2014, had started losing ground against the greenback again on Friday, following a five-day rally.

jr/ksb (Reuters, dpa, AFP)

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Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Aug 3, 2014)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules..  …”

Astana Retains World Tour License

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Dec 11, 2014

Kazakhstan’s Maxim Iglinsky of team Astana. (EPA Photo/Laurent Gillieron)

Paris. Doping-scandal tainted Astana, whose leading rider is this year’s Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali, was on Wednesday granted a World Tour license for the 2015 season by the International Cycling Union.

However, the UCI said that, while the license had been granted, Astana would have to agree to conditions, including being audited by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne, who will “determine whether and to what extent the team and or/its management is responsible of the recent events” relating to doping offenses.

In addition, it must adhere from 2015 to the “internal operational requirements”, a set of measures which will be compulsory for all World Tour teams from 2017.

The future of Kazakh-based Astana had been hanging in the balance after the UCI asked for a full review of the team’s anti-doping policies.

That was after brothers Maxim and Valentin Iglinksy, and three riders from the Astana Continental team, tested positive for banned substances in the past year.

In addition, the UCI has also said it will study allegations made by Italian media that Astana met banned doping doctor Michele Ferrari last year.

UCI president Brian Cookson said: “This remains a very serious situation for our sport given the number of doping cases. We shall be following the situation very closely and are awaiting to review the results of the audit.

“Meanwhile, the team will have to comply with the two requirements imposed by the License Commission. The combined effect of this is that the Astana Pro Team can be considered very much to be on probation.”

Meanwhile, the sport’s governing body also denied a license to French outfit Europcar, estimating that “the team does not fulfill the financial criteria”.

Europe's last dictator marks anniversary

In a dubious anniversary, authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko marks 20 years as Belarus president. How has Europe's last dictator managed to stay at the helm of the eastern European country for so long?

Deutsche Welle, 10 July 2014

20 years ago, hardly anybody thought that the West would one day refer to Alexander Lukashenko as "Europe's last dictator". Neither politicians nor political observers had foreseen his victory in the presidential elections on July 10, 1994. More than 80 percent of voters in Belarus allegedly voted for him at the time.

Lukashenko, who headed a state-owned agricultural firm at the time, first ran for a political office in the parliamentary elections in 1990. As a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the highest legislative body of the Soviet Union, he would sometimes side with the Communists and sometimes with the Nationalists. Lukashenko chaired the committee for the fight against corruption. In angry speeches he would regularly attack representatives of the communist nomenclature, the government's backbone at the time. It gained him widespread popularity with the general public.

Observers say his victory in the 1994 presidential elections was largely the result of a protest vote. Voters had grown tired of the communist regime, of hyper inflation and other economic problems. But not even the supporters of the 39-year-old new president would have predicted that Lukashenko would go on to stay in office for this long.

Help from Russia

But what is the secret behind Lukashenko's political longevity? Belarusian political scientist Alexander Klaskovsky believes it's a mixture between Lukashenko‘s populism and the low demands by voters in Belarus. Most people, he said, are satisfied with their relatively stable living standards – even if they lag far behind western European standards. "Their jobs are guaranteed. They live in a remake of Soviet life where you don't have to work and think hard," Klaskovsky told Deutsche Welle in an interview.

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan founded the Eurasian Economic Union
in May 2014.

But tremendous financial support from Moscow is the crucial key to Lukashenko's success, the political scientist added. According to estimates by Belarusian experts, direct and indirect subsidies amount to up to ten billion US dollars (7 billion euros) per year. Minsk benefits from low energy prices and trade perks. Belarusian refineries process oil delivered by Russia. The largest share of exports from Belarus go to Russia. Minsk is hoping to benefit from further customs reductions and additional revenue of three to four billion US dollars per year through the Eurasian economic union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Klaskovsky also pointed out that this year alone, Belarus will have to pay back more than three billion US dollars to its creditors. The Kremlin has been the only possible partner for outside financing activities so far. Lukashenko is not willing to implement political and economic reforms, so collaboration with potential western partners is not an option. "Minsk‘s access to the International Monetary Fund's financing programs is therefore extremely limited," said Klaskovsky.

The power of fear

Valery Karbalevitch from the Belarusian research center 'Strategia' also stressed the tremendous financial, economic, political and military support from Russia. Lukashenko's regime would not survive without this help, he said. "Add to this oppression and even elimination of regime critics. It has meant that many politically active people have left Belarus," Karbalevitch told DW.

Stanislav Shushkevitch, who was the first head of state in independent Belarus, pointed out how Lukashenko destroyed the young democracy in the first two years of his reign. "First the media was monopolized and then local self-administration was abolished."

That created an atmosphere of fear that the current regime is still based on, said Michail Pastuchov, who used to be a judge at the country's first constitutional court. "The foundation of the current system in Belarus is fear. They keep trying to make it clear to people that every expression of dissatisfaction will be brutally quashed," said Pastuchov.

After the presidential elections in late 2010, Lukashenko had anti-vote
rigging protests violently quashed in Minsk.

Will Lukashenko exploit the crisis in Ukraine?

Political observers say the current crisis between Russia and Ukraine is further spreading fear in Belarus, within both the government and the population. They say Lukashenko is aware of the threat from Russia. At the same time, he considers the Ukraine crisis a new asset in his hands that can help him further consolidate his power, said Valery Karbalevitch.

People in Belarus are scared of change, the social scientist believes. State-controlled media have long spread the message that the political opposition in Belarus would only bring chaos, anarchy and even war to the country if they were to take over power. Lukashenko's slogan for the 2015 presidential election campaign goes along those lines. "Either Lukashenko and stability, or change and chaos." Karbalevitch added that Lukashenko‘s situation ahead of the presidential elections would be more uncomfortable than it is now if it hadn't been for the events in Ukraine.

Silk Road, China's Grand Canal listed as World Heritage sites

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-06-24

A view of Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province and starting point of the
Silk Road. (Photo/Xinhua)

The famous ancient Silk Road and China's Grand Canal, the world's longest artificial waterway, were inscribed on the list of World Heritage sites in Doha on Sunday.

Jointly submitted by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the application for adding part of the Silk Road, which served as a corridor for trade and cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe dating back to 2,000 years ago, to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) list was approved by the World Heritage Committee at a session in the Qatari capital.

The application consists of 33 historical sites along the millennium-old trade route, including 22 in China, eight in Kazakhstan and three in Kyrgyzstan. They range from palaces and pagoda sites in cities to ruins in remote, inaccessible deserts.

It is the first time China has cooperated with foreign countries for a World Heritage nomination.

Du Yue, secretary general of the Chinese delegation at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee, said the approval of the application would strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the two Central Asian nations.

He called for the three countries' close coordination to jointly protect and pass on the Silk Road heritage from generation to generation.

At Sunday's session, UNESCO also included the Grand Canal, with a history of more than 2,400 years, in the World Heritage list.

Participants at the meeting said the 1,794-km canal, which runs from Beijing to Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province, is a valuable fruit of the Chinese people's diligence and wisdom, adding that its inclusion has enriched the content of the World Heritage.

The Paris-based UNESCO oversees the system of granting World Heritage status to important cultural and natural sites around the globe.

The 38th session of the World Heritage Committee opened on June 15 and will continue through Wednesday.

A boat sails on the Wuxi section of China's Grand Canal, in Wuxi, east
 China's Jiangsu province, June 22, 2014. China's Grand Canal, the longest
 artificial waterway in the world, was inscribed on the World Heritage
list on June 22, 2014. (Xinhua/Huan Yueliang)

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Ex-Soviet trio sign trade bloc deal

A treaty to launch the Eurasian Economic Union spanning Russia, Kazahkstan and Belarus has been signed by the countries' presidents in the Kazahk capital. The bloc will come into being next January.

Deutsche Welle, 29 May 2014

Three ex-Soviet republics took the first step on Thursday to creating a trading bloc with a combined population of 170 million after years of tense negotiations. It still depends on approvals from the republics' parliaments.

Ukraine opted not to join the proposed bloc in February after an unprecedented to-and-fro wrangle with Russia over an alternative plan - aborted during unrest - to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union.

At Thursday's signing in Astana, Kazakhstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Eurasia bloc would enable the trio to strengthen their positions in global markets - alongside the EU, US and China.

The Eurasian deal stops short of introducing a single currency and delays the creation of a common energy market.

The treaty deepens a customs union created in 2010 and is supposed to guarantee the free transit of goods, services, capital and labor, as well as coordinated economic policy.

A compromise, says Lukashenko

Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko said before the signing that he was not fully happy with the deal, but hailed it as a compromise.

The agreement was "well-balanced," said President Nursultan Nazabayev of Kazakhstan whose energy riches leave Russia with little leverage.

The union should become a "powerful incentive for modernizing our economies," said Nazabayev, adding that he saw it as a "bridge between the East and the West."

Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have said that they want to join the union later.

The Eurasian Economic Union will base its executive body in Moscow, a high court in Belarus and a top financial regulator in Kazakhstan.

The office of Ukraine's newly elected president, Petro Poroshenko, said on Wednesday that he wanted to sign a landmark treaty with the EU soon after his inauguration as head of state.

Last November, Ukraine's then Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych turned his back on an accord with the EU. His decision triggered protests, especially in Kyiv, that led to his ouster in February.

Putin began the drive to create the Eurasian union after asserting in 2005 that the break-up of the Soviet Union had been the "biggest geopolitical disaster" of the 20th century.

ipj/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)

China signs protocol to nuclear-free treaty in Central Asia

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-05-07

Liu Jieyi, second left, and representatives of Russia, the United States,
France and Britain at the signing ceremony in New York, May 6. (Photo/Xinhua)

China on Wednesday signed a protocol to the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia.

"China supports the efforts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, which serves the purposes of strengthening the international non-proliferation regime, advancing the nuclear disarmament process, and promoting peace and security in the region and beyond," Chinese permanent envoy to the UN Liu Jieyi said in a statement.

China has made a solemn commitment of no-first-use of nuclear weapons at any time or under any circumstances, and promised that under no circumstances will it use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states and nuclear-weapon-free zones, the statement said.

"China is committed to strictly complying with the obligations of this protocol after signing and ratification," it said. "At the same time, China believes that any security agreement or treaty will not affect the position of the nuclear-weapon-free zone, and interpretation and application of all the provisions of this protocol must comply with its aim and purpose of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia."

China hopes the protocol will enter into force at an early date and is willing to make joint efforts with the Central Asian countries to achieve the goal of the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons in the world, said the statement.

China signed the protocol with the five Central Asian countries at the UN headquarters together with Russia, the United States, France and Britain.

Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, where a 15-megaton device equivalent to a thousand

Hiroshima blasts, detonated in 1954. Photograph: US Air Force - digital version

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Putin's power play jeopardizes Eurasian Union plans

Deutsche Welle, 15 March 2014

President Vladimir Putin aims to create an Eurasian Union where the Soviet Union once reigned. But Moscow's intervention in Crimea could make former Soviet republics think twice about deeper integration with Russia.

During his annual address to the Russian parliament back in 2005, President Putin publicly lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union, calling it "a major geopolitical disaster of the century." The former KGB man laid out his solution to this "disaster" in a 2011 newspaper editorial, in which he called for the creation of an Eurasian Union.

"First, none of this entails any kind of revival of the Soviet Union," Putin wrote in the daily Izvestia. "It would be naïve to revive or emulate something that has been consigned to history. But these times call for a close integration based on new values and a new political and economic foundation."

"We suggest a powerful supranational association capable of becoming one of the poles in the modern world and serving as an efficient bridge between Europe and the dynamic Asia-Pacific region," he continued.

Neighboring Belarus and Kazakhstan have signed up to join Russia in this integration project. In 2010, the three ex-Soviet republics formed a common customs union. Meanwhile, they have agreed to make the Eurasian Economic Union a reality by January 1, 2015.

Close, but not too close?

"According to Putin, it has to be a political alliance, not only the customs union, with supranational institutions that will be hosted by Moscow and apparently dominated by Russia," Lilia Shevtsova, a Russia expert with CarnegieMoscow, told DW.

'Anti-thesis to the West'

While Shevtsova described the Eurasian Union as Putin's "pet project," she said that the concept of Eurasianism as an ideology developed in early 20th century Russia as an "antithesis to the West."

"The major principle of Eurasianism is that Russia has to be the pole of a new civilization, which is situated on the huge Eurasian territory that includes a European part and an Asian part," Shevtsova said. "Russia is unique and Russia is not Europe."

"The Eurasian concept is based on such values as the Orthodox Church and the strength of the state," she said. "The state is much more important than individuals."

'EU without democracy'

In terms of its structure, the Eurasian Union is modeled on the European Union's political integration project, but without the emphasis on democracy and human rights, according to Amanda Paul, an expert on the Eurasian region at the in Brussels.

A handful of former Soviet republics, led by Russia, created the Eurasian Economic

Community (EAEC or Eurasec) in 2000 to serve as the motor of integration in the former Soviet space. The organization's institutional structure is similar to the defunct European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union. Eurasec has an interstate council, a permanent committee, an inter-parliamentary assembly and a court.

The interstate council consists of the Eurasec members' heads of state and makes decisions by consensus, while the permanent committee requires a two-thirds majority vote. Voting power in the committee is based on financial contributions. Russia wields 40 votes while Belarus and Kazakhstan each hold 20. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan possess 10 votes respectively.

Driven by realpolitik

According to Shevtsova, Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko opted to join because he "cannot go to Europe" due to his repressive policies, and "he cannot survive by himself" because of the country's economic problems. Meanwhile, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev hopes to use Russia to balance out China's economic influence in the Central Asian country, she said.

Last September, Armenia turned down an association agreement with the European Union, opting instead for the customs union with Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. The Armenian deputy foreign minister, Shavarsh Kocharian, has said that Yerevan will be ready to join the customs union by mid-April.

Armenia has "chosen" to go
along with Russia's plan

"They basically didn't have any option but to ditch their agreement with the EU because of their reliance on Russia in many different sectors, obviously including energy security, economics and trade," Paul said.

"In the shared neighborhood with the EU, none of the countries want to join," she continued. "Russia is having to force them in there with all the sticks and whips it's got."

'Pop-up war syndrome'

According to Shevtsova, Kyiv is the "crown jewel" in Russia's Eurasian ambitions. A country of 45 million people, Ukraine has fertile agricultural land, an industrial base and lies right on Central Europe's doorstep.

"It was one of the key goals of Putin to get Ukraine into the orbit because a Eurasian Union…without Ukraine would have a very strong Asian face," she said.

But Moscow's intervention in Crimea could jeopardize the entire integration project. Ukraine has been driven even further into the West's arms by the de-facto Russian annexation of the Black Sea peninsula. The EU could sign the political chapters of an association agreement with Kyiv as early as March 20th.

Meanwhile, Belarus and Kazakhstan have failed to express strong public support for Moscow's position in Ukraine. Putin's doctrine of reserving the right to use military force to protect ethnic Russians might have Minsk and Astana worried. Nearly a quarter of Kazakhstan's population and eight percent of Belarus claim Russian ethnicity.

"If the Russians are allowed to get away with what they're doing in Crimea it sets a precedent to repeat this sort of behavior elsewhere," Paul said. "Russia is creating a sort of pop-up war syndrome. It doesn't like something so it creates a military confrontation."