Anna Bezdudnaya Participated in the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly
Anna Bezdudnaya, General Director of the FBA EAC and Editor-in-Chief of the FBA EAC Herald, has commenced her engagements at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Day Zero of the Forum was hosted at the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States, with the support of the Committee on International Affairs of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
The discussion centered on the issues of Eurasian integration in a multipolar world. During the session, key aspects of Russia's role in this process were identified.
The EAEU as an Economic Pole. The Eurasian Economic Union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan) is viewed as the core of integration. From the Russian perspective, the Union should evolve beyond a mere common market into a fully-fledged decision-making center capable of competing with the European Union, the United States, and China.
Alignment of Integration Processes. Russia is advancing the concept of the "integration of integrations"—linking the EAEU with China's Belt and Road Initiative, as well as with the SCO, ASEAN, and potentially the EU. The goal is to create a vast Eurasian space free from the domination of a single hegemon.
Security and Sovereignty. In a multipolar world, Russia, through the CSTO and bilateral alliances, seeks to ensure the military and political autonomy of the Eurasian states, preventing their absorption by other blocs.
Decentralization of Global Governance. Moscow advocates for the reform of the IMF, the World Bank, and the UN to reflect the actual weight of non-Western centers of power. In this context, the EAEU serves as a platform for coordinating the positions of the region's countries on the global stage.
Among the challenges identified by the participants were the varying paces of development among the participating countries, Western sanctions pressure, attempts to isolate Russia, competition with China for influence in Central Asia, and internal issues—specifically, the structural dependence of the Russian economy on raw materials.
As noted during the Forum, for Russia, Eurasian integration is not merely an economic project, but also a means of asserting its role as one of the poles in the modern world, where a single center of decision-making no longer exists. The success of this strategy depends directly on the ability to offer partners tangible benefits, rather than limiting itself to geopolitical rhetoric.