In a move that probably isn’t all that significant, Tajikistan has taken the chairmanship of the Commonwealth of Independent States. So far talks in Dushanbe led by Tajikistan’s current prime minister have resulted the signing of an impressive eleven documents.

The documents have been passed without a discussion. In particular, it is a decision to carry out a census in CIS countries before 2010, introduce changes in the rules of defining a commodity’s country of origin, a protocol on changes in the agreement on co-operation in forestry and forest industry, the agreement on harmonising technical regulations, on co-operation in physical culture and sports, etc.

To summarize, we can infer that nothing too earth shattering was passed if nothing even warranted a discussion. Tajikistan’s prime minister, however, did make a variety of broad statements about the need for further collaboration, integration, etc.

Georgia and Ukraine criticized the organization, and Georgia even claimed to be considering withdrawing. The CIS is widely perceived to be Russia’s instrument of regional control. Tajikistan takes no issue with this reality, as Russia maintains a military base in Tajikistan, and opinion polls show that Russians are very highly regarded in the country.