Uzbekistan slams Russia-led economic union

Uzbekistan's president on Friday criticised a new economic union clinched last month between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, warning of a loss of political independence for the ex-Soviet countries.
President Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian and Kazakh counterparts signed a deal on May 29 creating an Eurasian Economic Union that guarantees the free circulation of goods, services, capital and labour.
"They say they are only creating an economic market and they will not in any way give up their sovereignty and independence," Islam Karimov said of the union set to come into force January 15 next year.
"Tell me, can there be political independence without economic independence?"
Karimov was speaking to foreign diplomats, international experts and investors in the agricultural sector at the opening of an international conference on food security in Tashkent, according to AFP.