Commonwealth of Independent States

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation made up of countries in Eurasia. It was formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of 20,368,759 km² (7,864,422 sq mi) and has about 246,200,194 people. The CIS helps countries work together on economic, political, and military matters. It can also help coordinate trade, money, laws, and security, including stopping crime that crosses borders.

When the Soviet Union broke apart, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine signed the Belovezha Accords on 8 December 1991. In this agreement, they said the Union had effectively stopped existing and set up the CIS in its place. On 21 December, these three former Soviet republics and eight more signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which set out the founding ideas and rules of the CIS. Georgia joined in 1993, but it left in 2008 after a war with Russia. Ukraine formally ended its part in the CIS's official groups in 2018. It had already stopped taking part after the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. After Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moldova began to step back from the CIS. On 8 April 2026, it ended its agreement to the CIS treaty, protocol, and charter.

Eight of the nine CIS member states take part in the CIS Free Trade Area. Three other organisations grew out of the CIS. These are the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union (which includes the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Space), and the Union State. The first two are groups that work together on defence and the economy. The third aims to create a supranational union of Russia and Belarus, with a shared government and currency.

History and structure

See also: Dissolution of the Soviet Union, Near abroad, and Eurasian economic integration

In March 1991, during Perestroika and a growing political crisis, Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the Soviet Union, proposed a new federation. He wanted the Union to stay as a union of sovereign republics. The new treaty was never signed. Communist Party hardliners tried to take power in a coup attempt in Moscow that August. After the August coup failed, many Soviet republics declared independence. A week after the Ukrainian independence referendum was held, the Commonwealth of Independent States was founded on 8 December 1991. It was started by the Byelorussian SSR, the Russian SFSR, and the Ukrainian SSR. Their leaders met at the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve, about 50 km (31 mi) north of Brest in Belarus. There they signed the agreement known as the Belovezha Accords. On 21 December 1991, leaders of eight more former Soviet republics signed the Alma-Ata Protocol. These were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. This brought the number of countries taking part to 11. Georgia joined in December 1993. Three former republics did not take part. These were the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The Soviet of the Republics formally ended the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991.

After the Soviet Union broke up, Russia and the Central Asian republics had economic troubles, and their GDP went down. Post-Soviet states made economic changes and privatisation. On 22 January 1993, the Charter of the CIS was signed. It set up the organisation's institutions, their jobs, and its rules. Ukraine and Turkmenistan did not approve the charter, so they took part without becoming full member states. Turkmenistan became an associate member in August 2005. Georgia left the CIS in 2009, and Ukraine stopped taking part in 2018.

The work of the CIS is coordinated by the general secretary.

Main article: General Secretary of the CIS

The CIS Interparliamentary Assembly was set up in Kazakhstan on 27 March 1992. It is housed in the Tauride Palace in St Petersburg. It acts as the advisory parliamentary part of the CIS.

Membership

Nine countries are full member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The CIS Charter was adopted in January 1993. It made membership official. A country becomes a member when it approves the Charter. New countries can join if all current members agree. Countries that signed the earlier Creation Agreement before the Charter was adopted are called "Founding states," but they are not members.

Some countries have left or stepped back from the CIS. In March and April 2026, Moldova's government and Parliament of Moldova approved ending three CIS treaties. Moldova will stop being a member on 8 April 2027. Ukraine signed the Belovezha Accords and the Alma-Ata Protocol in 1991. It remained a founding state because it never approved the Charter. It officially ended its part in CIS statutory bodies in 2018. Turkmenistan also has not approved the Charter, and it became an associate member in 2005. Georgia left the CIS after the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. Its withdrawal took effect on 18 August 2009.

Politics

Human rights

Since it began, one of the CIS's main goals has been to give newly independent countries a place to talk about social and economic growth. Member countries agreed to support and protect human rights. At first, these were only promises. In 1995, the CIS adopted a Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. A Human Rights Commission was set up in 1993, with its office in Minsk, Belarus. The 1995 treaty came into effect in 1998. It is based on the European Convention on Human Rights, but it does not have the same strong ways of making sure its rules are followed. Many activists say that human rights in CIS countries, especially in Central Asia, are still among the weakest in the world. They point to a violent event in Uzbekistan in 2005 as one example. The CIS still has a lot of work to do to meet even basic international standards.

Military

Main articles: Collective Security Treaty Organization, United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Council of Ministers of Defense of the CIS, and Joint CIS Air Defense System

The CIS Charter set up the Council of Ministers of Defence to help member countries that want to take part work together on military matters. In 1992, six former Soviet countries signed the Collective Security Treaty, which began in 1994. When it was renewed, three countries left, so Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan remained as members. In 2002, six member countries agreed to create the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a military alliance. Disagreements between members, including conflicts involving Russia and its neighbours Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova, and the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, have shown that the treaty and the CSTO have not been very good at settling disputes between CIS members.

Economy

See also: Economy of the Soviet Union

Corruption and red tape make trade harder in CIS countries. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev suggested that CIS members work together on digital technology to help update their economies.

Economic data

Main articles: GOST and List of GOST standards

GOST standards were first made by the government of the Soviet Union. After the USSR broke up, they became standards for the region. Today, the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology, and Certification (EASC) manages them. This group was set up by the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Main articles: free trade agreement and free trade area

In 1993, leaders of several CIS states signed an agreement to help their economies grow steadily and improve people's living standards. The CIS trade rules let member states make free trade deals with other countries. They also allow differentiated integration, which is sometimes called à la carte or multi-speed Europe.

In April 1994, the presidents of 12 countries signed an agreement to set up a free trade area. Many countries later finished this process. However, it mostly led to separate trade deals between pairs of countries, rather than free trade among all members.

In April 1999, the presidents of 11 countries signed an agreement that replaced the pair-by-pair system with one free trade system for all. Turkmenistan did not take part.

In October 2011, eight CIS prime ministers signed a new free trade agreement in St. Petersburg. Several countries later approved it, but it still has some exceptions that will be removed over time. Azerbaijan is the only full CIS member state that is not part of this free trade area.

In June 2023, seven countries signed an agreement on free trade in services in Sochi.

Social development of the CIS countries

As of 2011, many people in the CIS countries had a hard time financially. When people were asked if they felt poor, far more said yes than the official numbers showed. This was true in Ukraine and Russia.

By the end of 2015, very few unemployed people in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan received unemployment benefits. Russia gave these benefits to many more people. Average monthly salaries were low in 2015. In several countries, many people spent more than half their pay on food, and wages were often paid late.

Other activities

The CIS-Election Monitoring Organisation is an election monitoring group that was formed in October 2002. It has sent election observers to CIS member countries since then. Some scholars think CIS election monitoring is not very good, because the CIS often approves elections that have clear problems. Independent observers have criticised many of the elections it approved. For example, the CIS questioned the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, which followed the Orange Revolution. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) found no major problems. In March 2005, the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency reported that Ukraine had stopped taking part in the CIS election monitoring group. Moldovan authorities did not invite CIS observers to the 2005 Moldovan parliamentary elections. The CIS called the Kyrgyz parliamentary elections of 2005 "well-organized, free, and fair," but the OSCE said they did not meet international standards. The Interparliamentary Assembly said the 2010 local elections in Ukraine were well organised. However, the Council of Europe found problems, and the Obama administration said the elections did not meet standards for openness and fairness.

Russia has urged that the Russian language become an official language in all CIS member states. Right now, it is official in only four states: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. It is also official in Transnistria and the self-governing region of Gagauzia in Moldova. After the Ukrainian 2010 election, President Yanukovych said that "Ukraine will continue to promote the Ukrainian language as its only state language."

When the Soviet Union broke up in December 1991, its sports teams had been invited to or had qualified for several sports events in 1992. A joint CIS team took their place in some of them. The "Unified Team" competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics. A CIS association football team took part in UEFA Euro 1992. A CIS bandy team played some friendly matches. It made its last appearance at the Russian Government Cup, where it also played against the Russia national bandy team. The Soviet Union bandy championship for 1991–1992 was renamed a CIS championship. It lasted just one year before it became Russian bandy.

In 2017, a festival of national sports and games was held in Ulyanovsk. Its main sports included sambo, tug of war, mas-wrestling, gorodki, belt wrestling, lapta, bandy (rink), kettlebell lifting, chess, and archery. The first CIS games took place in Kazan in 2021 with 9 nations taking part. The second games were held in Belarus in 2023.

The CIS has also supported cultural ties between former Soviet republics. In 2006, the Council of the Heads of Governments of the CIS started the Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Cooperation (IFESCCO). It has depended a lot on financial support from Russia. It has also backed events such as the "CIS Capital of Culture" initiative. In 2017, the Armenian city of Goris was named the CIS Cultural Capital of the year. In 2022, that honour went to Karakol in Kyrgyzstan.

Demographics

The combined population of all member states is about 246 million people as of 2024.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth shows how long people in each country of the CIS are expected to live. These numbers are for 2021 and come from the World Bank Group. They are listed below.

Post-Soviet organisations and initiatives outside CIS framework

Main article: Post-Soviet states

Main articles: Eurasian Economic Community, Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Union, and EAEU

Main article: Eurasian Economic Space

Main article: Union State

Main article: Central Asian Cooperation Organization

Main article: Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations

Main article: GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development

Several groups were formed by post-Soviet states outside the CIS. In 2003, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan agreed in principle to create a common economic space. This could one day lead to a single currency. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, approved the plan that year. However, after Viktor Yushchenko won the Ukrainian presidential election of 2004, the plan faced a major setback. He wanted closer ties with the European Union. Later, Viktor Yanukovych said Ukraine could not join the customs union because of WTO rules. The Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia was created in 2010. In 2015, it was renamed the Eurasian Customs Union. It also grew to include Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

In 1991, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan formed the Central Asian Commonwealth. The group changed its name several times. In 2006, it joined with the Eurasian Economic Community. The disputed states of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria are members of the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations. This group aims to bring its members closer together. The GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development brings together Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

Assessments and criticism

Abulfaz Elchibey, the second president of Azerbaijan, called the CIS a "big collective farm" that Russia uses to keep its old empire alive. He said the rights of each member state, including Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijana, should have been protected. He also said CIS leaders had not seriously tried to solve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict or other conflicts in the post-Soviet zone. He claimed Russian troops were being used to force Georgians to leave Abkhazia, where the Abkhazians live.

Russian diplomat A. Denisov disagrees that Russia uses the CIS to rebuild the USSR. He says the CIS makes decisions by agreement, any member can block a decision, and each state chooses which projects to join.

Mikhail Krotov, a Russian scientist and civil servant, led the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly from 1992 to 2012. He writes that the end of the USSR was directly linked to the creation of the CIS. He points to the signing of the Belovezha Accords on 8 December 1991 and the Alma Ata Declaration on 21 December 1991. He also says Ukraine did not sign even a weaker version of the CIS founding document. Zbigniew Brzezinski, an American expert on world politics, believed that Ukraine's actions stopped the CIS from becoming just a new name for a more federal USSR.

Coins

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has made several special coins to honor the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In 2006, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus issued commemorative coins called "Commonwealth of Independent States. 15 years." They came in two values: 1 white ruble (made of copper-nickel) and 20 white rubles (made of silver).