"Commonwealth" to form the elite of nations

In July, the Youth Days of the CIS were held in the Kaluga Region. Young leaders of the former Soviet Union gathered in the ethnic and cultural center "Ethnomir", where they agreed to establish the youth organization "Commonwealth". According to the Deputy Head of the Federal Agency “Rossotrudnichestvo”, Georgi Muradov, in forming the Eurasian Union initiated by President Putin "the focus is on young people from CIS countries. Integration processes claimed as a major vector of our foreign policy have gone quite far in three countries - Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Now Ukraine is also a key factor in the integration process. Besides, I do not underestimate the role of other countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia. The integration group, which calls itself the Eurasian Union and is formed as the Eurasian Union, is becoming increasingly attractive. The younger generation has to determine the direction which our state will follow; the young will decide whether we shall be together or continue to dissipate. Integration is developing everywhere. We have a cultural space which has been formed for centuries, and destroying it is maybe not quite a complicated task, but it is thankless. The basis of the identification of different peoples, the foundations of the culture, history and traditions are dissipating. This all leads to degradation and destruction. Unfortunately, there are many examples of this kind in history, when entire civilizations were destroyed. This brought very serious consequences to the whole of mankind, but especially to those people who experienced this period of decay. Therefore, we are optimistic about the situation, we expect that the organization "Commonwealth" will be one of the main partners of Rossotrudnichestvo in the implementation of this course in order to ensure the future of our peoples together."

In addition, according to Muradov, representatives of the Circassian diaspora in Turkey, Jordan and Syria will arrive in Russia soon: "This is largely connected with the events taking place in the Middle East, the situation in the North Caucasus, the situation around the Sochi Olympics (thank God, it is stable), but we want to attract young leaders representing the Circassian diaspora. We want them to watch the development of their historical homeland, the North Caucasian republics."

Also, in September and October two cultural projects will be implemented. The first one is entitled "The Image of Russia." Young but already well-known artists from European countries will arrive in Russia. "We asked them to paint pictures of the image of Russia in their view during their two week stay; they may depict people's faces, landscapes, our shrines, or perhaps abstract art. We'll see the perception of the image of Russia by modern well-known European artists," Muradov says. The second cultural project is called "Your Chance". This theatre project is implemented together with the Union of Theatre Workers. 25 young theatre practitioners will arrive in Russia from Italy, Germany and other European countries.

Meanwhile, Alexander Sokolov, the President of the Foundation of International Cooperation, Head of the Inter-Commission working group on international cooperation and public diplomacy of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, believes that we should rely on the youth of the CIS: "We have a lot of possibilities for it related to the language, the similar education systems, the historical past and many cultural components that unite our peoples ... But we need to move the integration from the bureaucratic field to the humanitarian one, so that each person in our countries feels the results of these processes on himself, on his life. If you now ask passers-by in the streets of our countries what the CIS and the Eurasian Union are, I think that we will not get any clear answer in most cases, because citizens do not feel the processes of integration or disintegration that occur.

People of older generations, who were born, lived and were formed in the Soviet Union, can imagine the society of the past and have the opportunity to compare it with the current situation. People born in the late 1980s and 1990s can find out something about this period only from the information sources, the stories of their parents and other members of the older generation. It is necessary to create civic collaboration tracks for people in order to continuously talk about professional or generational topics.”

Sokolov also complained about the fact that holding such events rests on the financial component: "Nowadays, let's say, people are asking if the Issyk-Kul Forum will be held or not. It depends on whether there will be money in certain international organizations that are involved in the CIS affairs. Creating the organization "Commonwealth" will ensure that people will find the resources for ongoing cooperation, both in the organization as a whole and in each branch of the national search, make their own plans and implement them, bear responsibility for them and enjoy the results of their labor. I think we have managed to gather here, in Russia, a very good command from all the countries of the Eurasian space. Here, besides the CIS countries, there are Georgia and South Ossetia, represented by a small delegation which came here in order to build common plans. Although at first only 120 people have come here, now the people who are watching us closely and who are actively involved in the process are about several hundred."

Speaking about the prospect of the differentiation of young people and proposing different forms of integration to different groups, Sokolov said: "There is an initiative of young people involved in the parliamentary motion. Somewhere they are young MPs, somewhere they participate in forums such as the Youth Parliament and the Youth Government. There is a decision to establish a youth component of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS based in St. Petersburg. This decision was made, and this fall the first session of the Young Parliamentarians from CIS countries will be held. This October, during the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Youth Parliamentary Forum will be held, where the Commonwealth will be presented by a separate delegation; it will not be a delegation of Russia, or Kazakhstan, or other countries that are part of the Council of Europe. There will be a common delegation, and this is the initiative of the young.”