Leaders of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan recently agreed to deepen their countries’ integrations into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Although the member states of this supranational organization have fairly ambitious plans, primarily in terms of enlargement and cooperation with other global structures, it remains highly uncertain whether they will be able to implement most of their strategies and goals.
The Eurasian Union was created on the basis of the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The agreement on the creation of the EAEU was signed on May 29, 2014 in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, now Nur-Sultan. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joined the EAEU in 2015. That year, the enlargement process stalled. For the first time, the status of observer state was granted to Moldova in May 2018. Ever since, there has not been much progress in terms of attracting new potential member states. However, on December 11, Uzbekistan was granted observer status