Russia's Putin dreams of sweeping Eurasian Union [View all]

[Dover]

By Associated Press,

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has a vision for a Soviet Union-lite he hopes will become a new Moscow-led global powerhouse. But, his planned Eurasian Union won’t be grounded in ideology: This time it’s about trade.

The concept of regional economic integration may be losing some of its allure in Europe, where a debt crisis is threatening the existence of the eurozone. But some countries across the former Soviet Union, still struggling economically 20 years after becoming independent, are embracing Putin’s grand ambition.

Russia has moved one step toward this goal under an agreement with former fellow Soviet republics Belarus and Kazakhstan that as of Sunday allows the free movement of goods and capital across their common borders.

As Putin envisions it, the still-hypothetical union will eventually stretch from the eastern fringes of Central Europe to the Pacific Coast and south to the rugged Pamir Mountains abutting Afghanistan.

..cont'd

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russias-putin-dreams-of-sweeping-eurasian-union-for-trade-not-ideology/2012/01/03/gIQAUARgXP_story.html?wprss=rss_world