Elite or social project - 2

Alexei Pilko, senior expert at Moscow State University's History Department

The Eurasian Union needs fundamental, systemic information support at various levels. We speak about not only publishing success stories in the information space – stories about economic success which was achieved due to the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space and the future Eurasian Union, even though it is important. But it is also important to organize communication channels with elites of the countries which can join the Eurasian Union and contribute to intensive views exchange between elites of the current members of the Eurasian project. The example is the situation with Ukraine, which is difficult. When we manage to establish the common center which would fulfill economic and probably political administration functions, the center will be one of participants of the big game on establishing a new world order in a positive sense .

Yuri Kofner, chairman of Young Eurasia

The Eurasian Union is being established, but people don’t know what exactly it is, and where we are going. It causes problems. There is no ideological element, no national idea. We know that the constitution of Russia forbids any ideology. I think it is not right. We need some landmark. The Eurasian project needs it. The movement Young Eurasia believes that we should rely on traditional Eurasianism. The information component is one of initial problems, we should deal with it. I listen to many Western experts, first of all Bzhezinsky, they say the Eurasian project will be successful in the short-term. But in a long-term prospect it will face the problem of growing civil society. It is the youth who thinks globally, considers itself as citizens of the world, they want to live like in Europe. They cannot be involved to the project by some global abstract ideas on establishing the Union. We should understand that a clash increases in the society. At the same time, people who are for the Eurasian Union for various reasons – missing the Soviet Union, desire to reconstruct an empire, pro-Putin, pro-Nazarbayev, pro-Lukashenka attitudes in the society. This clash should be eliminated. It can be done only due to ideology – educational and transparent. I mean a new national idea which could consolidate various layers of the society. To establish the Eurasian Union, a new supra-national state unity, we need some class on which the project could be based. The initial task is establishing of a patriotic modern pro-Eurasian class.