Contemplated Expansion
- Abkhazia: currently has observer status in parliamentary sessions. In informal statements, the prime ministers of the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (currently recognised only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nauru) have expressed interest in joining the Union with the Spokesman of the Union reciprocating this interest. No formal requests known so far.
- Kazakhstan has expressed interest in forming a separate customs union with Russia and Belarus by 2010. This Customs Union was formed as planned at the beginning of 2010. Kazakhstan has mentioned that it may join the Union State after some time.
- Kyrgyzstan, as of June 2007, opposition in Kyrgyzstan, which has been locked in political turmoil, has initiated a nationwide referendum to join the union of Russia and Belarus.
- Moldova In 2001, president of Moldova Vladimir Voronin announced right after his election that he had plans for Moldova to join the Union of Russia and Belarus. The coming to power of the Alliance for European Integration at the 2009 Moldovan elections has since shifted Moldovan interest towards the European Union.
- Ukraine In response to speculation about Ukraine joining the Union, Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych came out with an official statement declaring that Ukraine is an independent sovereign state and this is not something that can be questioned by anyone in the government. According to a poll conducted by Russia's Levada Center in Ukraine in January–February 2010, 93% of Ukrainians have a positive view of Russia, but only 22% of Ukrainians polled supported the idea of a union with Russia.
- Serbia In 1999 the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia voted for the country to join the Union. In 2007 Tomislav Nikolic said during a speech that he wished that Serbia would strengthen its ties with and eventually join the Union State. Serbia has since submitted its application to the EU.
- South Ossetia: currently has observer status in parliamentary sessions. In informal statements, Abkhazian and South Ossetian prime ministers have expressed interest in joining the Union with the Spokesman of the Union reciprocating this interest. No formal requests known so far.
- Transnistria: in the Transnistrian referendum of 2006 97.2% of the population voted for a reunion of Transnistria with the Russian Federation, which analysts say indicates a possibility that Transnistria might unilaterally ask to join the Union, once it is established. Already in spring 1998, 66.5% of Transnistrian voters supported joining the Union of Russia and Belarus in a non-binding referendum by the Transnistrian state. However, not being recognised by either member, this is unlikely to happen in the near future.
Read more about this topic: Union State, Developments
Famous quotes containing the words contemplated and/or expansion:
“I felt that he, a prisoner in the midst of his enemies and under the sentence of death, if consulted as to his next step or resource, could answer more wisely than all his countrymen beside. He best understood his position; he contemplated it most calmly. Comparatively, all other men, North and South, were beside themselves.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)