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Kyrgyzstan parliament ratifies treaty on accession to Eurasian Economic Union

To become law, the bill must be signed by President Almazbek Atambayev

BISHKEK, May 20. /TASS/. Kyrgyzstan’s parliament on Wednesday ratified a treaty on the republic’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, the new Russia-led political and economic bloc formed with Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia.

"The draft law ‘On ratification of international agreements on accession of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union’ has been prepared by the government of the country," the parliament’s press service told TASS, adding that 96 deputies voted for the legislation, while only two voted against it.

To become law, the legislation must be signed by President Almazbek Atambayev.

Kyrgyz Economy Minister Oleg Pankratov noted that the document would still need to be ratified by the parliaments of the other member states, before the Central Asian nation could open its borders to them. He said the Kyrgyz side wanted to ask its union partners to accelerate the ratification procedure and not to postpone the issue until the autumn.

Kyrgyz authorities decided to join the Moscow-led Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in the spring of 2011. Six months later, the former Soviet republic filed an official request. A treaty on the republic’s accession to the Customs Union and the newly-formalised Eurasian Economic Union was signed in December.

The Eurasian Economic Union, which envisages free movement of goods, services, capital and labour and is based on the Customs Union, started operating in January, replacing the Eurasian Economic Community, which officially ceased to exist last October.

Membership is open to other states assessed as sharing the assembly's aims and principles, its founders say.