DUSHANBE, November 29, 2012, Asia-Plus — Tajik President Emomali Rahmon will participate in the next meeting of the CIS Council of the Heads of State that will take place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on December 5.
According to the CIS Executive Committee, CIS leaders are expected to discuss some 20 draft documents related to deepening economic and humanitarian cooperation between the regions of the CIS member nations, providing security and other directions.
First of all, the CIS heads of state are reportedly set to discuss a draft decision on preparations for celebrating the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
The Ashgabat summit will take a final decision on Belarus’ chairmanship in the CIS in 2013. Belarus will formally assume the rotating CIS chairmanship next year.
The Ashgabat summit is also expected to make a decision on declaring the year 2013 within the CIS area as the year of environmental culture and the environment.
Tajik leader is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from a number of the CIS member nations on the sidelines of the summit in Ashgabat, a source in the Tajik government said.
The CIS is a loose association of states and in no way comparable to a federation, confederation or supranational union such as the European Union. It is more comparable to the Commonwealth of Nations. Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is aimed at being more than a purely symbolic organization, nominally possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security. It has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention. Some of the members of the CIS have established the Eurasian Economic Community with the aim of creating a full-fledged common market. There are nine member nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States
