Moldova invited as observer to EAEU summit — president

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. Moldova has received an invitation to attend the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as an observer, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman.

The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the highest supranational body of the Eurasian Economic Union comprising Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, will hold a summit in St. Petersburg in December.

“In early December, heads of state and government of the EAEU will meet in St. Petersburg. We have been invited as observers,” Dodon said. Moldova was granted the status of an observer state of the EAEU in May, he added.

“Moldova is the first country that has been granted an observer status at the Eurasian Economic Union. It is a new platform and new opportunities for our economy. That is why these integration processes – the CIS and EAEU – are of much importance,” he underscored.

Along with this, he noted that the republic’s full-fledged membership in the EAEU is not on the current agenda. “A roadmap is needed and other agreements signed by Moldova should be taken into consideration,” he told TASS.

The Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which comprises presidents and prime ministers of the Union’s member-states, is the highest supranational body of the integration. It holds meetings once a year or more often.

Belarus assumed the rotating presidency of the EAEU for 2015. In 2016, Kazakhstan replaced it. Russian chairs the EAEU this year, while Armenia will take over in 2019.

The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration. The EAEU provides for free movement of goods, services, capital and labor. It is aimed at comprehensively upgrading, raising the competitiveness of and cooperation between the national economies, and promoting stable development.