CIS: RESCHEDULED… A

summit meeting repeatedly postponed since last October may finally take place April 2. The agenda includes confirmation of the dismissal of Executive Secretary Boris Berezovsky and the naming of a replacement; liberalization of intra-CIS trade; and the expiration of the 1993 Collective Security Treaty. There is no consensus on any item. Seven countries have endorsed Berezovsky’s dismissal, but there are several possible candidates to succeed him. Russia remains hostile to trade liberalization, and the currency crises in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus make trade hard to finance in any case. Only nine of the fifteen CIS countries ever signed the Collective Security Treaty, and three of these (Uzbekistan, Georgia and Azerbaijan) have indicated they will not renew their participation when the treaty expires next month.