OCEAN movement wants to make Ukraine a center of creation of single integrated association in Eurasia
Kyiv, August 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The OCEAN international public movement (the Open Confederation of European and Asian Nations) is planning to make Ukraine a center of the creation within the next 10-15 years of a single integrated association in Eurasia - from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, which will include all former Soviet states and all European countries.
"OCEAN is a movement based on the general moral, intellectual and spiritual heritage of Athens, Rome, Jerusalem and Constantinople, which is common to the peoples living in Eurasia from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and is the key to the creation of a new civilization competitive on the world stage," the chairman of the movement, Vadim Mingalev, said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
He said that at the second congress of the movement had decided to approve a strategy for the organization's development and hold the third congress in Kyiv in September 2013.
Mingalev said the movement plans to create a new expert club, which will include experts from all CIS countries. Its participants will also include Ukraine's representative in the Eurasian Economic Commission, Viktor Suslov, the Ukrainian government's commissioner for cooperation with Russia, the CIS, the Eurasian Economic Community and other regional associations, Valeriy Muntiyan, Russian presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev, as well as Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Director of the Institute of Economics and Forecasting at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Valeriy Heyets.
Deputy Chairman of the OCEAN Movement for International Economic Cooperation Igor Massolov, in turn, said that Ukraine could be a center of various integration initiatives in Eurasia. In particular, he proposed holding in Ukraine a meeting of world leaders under the code name "Helsinki 2" to discuss a new global agenda in view of current problems.
"During the formation on the Eurasian continent of a space of security and cooperation, from ocean to ocean, Ukraine will be in its geographical center, with all of its benefits in all areas of life," Massolov said.
He said that in order to strengthen its economy and revive its economic potential, Ukraine should integrate into the Customs Union, where it will act as an equal partner, rather than a "suppliant," as in relations with the European Union. He said that after the revival of economic strength Ukraine would also be able to implement joint serious projects with Europe.
Representatives of the OCEAN movement also stressed the importance of working with young people and cultural cooperation in Eurasia.