Ukraine, in the case of joining the Customs Union, will take a position similar to Great Britain’s position in the European Union. This means that it will have a special opinion on all the issues, fiercely bargain and wring concessions from partners, blocking all work of the organization.

Chairman of Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy of Russia Fyodor Lukyanov writes about this in an article “British Lesson for Eurasian Union” for the magazine “Russia in Global Affairs.”

“Russia is now actively building the Customs Union, which in 2015 is to become the Eurasian EU analogue on the post-Soviet space. Considerable efforts are being made to persuade Kyiv to join this effort. But it is easy to assume that in the case of accession, Ukraine will have a special opinion on all the issues, fiercely bargain and wring concessions from partners, blocking all work. That is, to perform the function Great Britain almost always served in the EU,” Lukyanov says.

He is convinced that a “curious lesson” can be learned by the Customs Union countries from the intricate history of relations between Great Britain and the European Union.

He noted that some non-PC commentators generally believe that the problem of European integration began to pile up at a time when it has been joined by London in 1970, which, for example was sharply opposed by Charles de Gaulle until the end of his life. “That’s worth thinking about does the Eurasian Union needs to have its Great Britain,” the expert stressed.

As reported by UKRINFORM, on January 23, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron said that Britain could hold a referendum on leaving the European Union at the end of this ten-year period.

ukrinform