Putin's Eurasian Union unrealistic

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced in a newspaper article plans to found a "Eurasian Union" with former Soviet republics. The union could form a political-economic link between the EU and the Pacific region, Putin suggested in a piece for the Moscow-based newspaper Izvestiya. According to the liberal daily Sme the plan is unrealistic: "Without doubt the ambition to revive the old empire is deeply ensconced in Putin and in Russia's ruling elite and will never be given up. But the plan is not realistic. Russia with its increasingly poor population and deteriorating economic situation is entirely dependent on the global price of oil and gas and has nothing reliable to offer its neighbours. There's just about enough money to pay off corruptible politicians and keep the army going, which is still able to frighten the neighbours. But an enduring and stable supranational entity can't be constructed on this basis."

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