KYRGYZSTAN OPPOSES RUSSIA-LED BLOC

Publication: Monitor Volume: 1 Issue: 100

… A foreign policy adviser to president Askar Akayev says that Kyrgyzstan’s leadership has no plans to join a military alliance under Russian leadership because of the negative international response that would follow. Kyrgyzstan’s participation in the CIS collective security treaty is only meant to maintain stability in the region, not to confront Europe, the aide said. The formation of a CIS military bloc seems in any event unlikely "because of the inability of the CIS to confront Europe militarily," according to the view from Bishkek. The official described Boris Yeltsin’s warning about forming a Russia-led bloc as an emotional overreaction intended to get Europe’s attention. But the presidential aide felt that "if Yeltsin strictly raises the question, ‘are you with us or not?’, Bishkek will have no option other than to join the military bloc." (14)

The aide’s remarks indicate that Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev shares the strong reservations expressed by leaders of all other Central Asian countries, with the exception of Tajikistan, toward Boris Yeltsin’s idea of forming a CIS political-military bloc. The comments also reflect the decline in Russia’s prestige in the region.

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