Eurasian Scout Region (World Organization of the Scout Movement)

However, there is some controversy, in addition to the aforementioned publication of documents only in the Russian language, as several within the Eurasian Region's top hierarchy are former Pioneer leaders. The primary goal of the Pioneers, whose membership was compulsory, was the indoctrination of youth into Communism. To complicate matters, these organizations adopted many of the trappings of the Scout organizations they supplanted. Because of the negative experience with the Communist youth organizations, Scouting in the Eurasian Region is having a slow rebirth. Proponents see the inheritance of Pioneer work and properties in a positive light. Opponents have seen the Eurasian Region as a tool that would allow former Pioneers to keep their influence over post Soviet youth movements, and use their newfound connections outside the region for their own gain. Even the placement of the Regional headquarters at the historic Pioneer Camp Artek at Yalta appears to many to point to this Pioneer dominance. Opponents also question the fact that authoritarian Belarus was an early member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, against WOSM's stated guidelines, while democratic neighbor Ukraine was not a WOSM member until 2008. In the years following its creation, the Eurasian Region was considered by some to have stagnated in its purpose: among other things, the official website was not updated between 2004 and February 2006.

Alternate solutions proposed at the time of the Soviet breakup, and still considered viable options by the critics of the Eurasian Region, would be to divide the Region into the previously existing European or Asia-Pacific Scout Regions, along cultural lines and national preference, to provide Scouts fresh perspective. As the Baltic states-Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia-joined the European Region, there is precedence for this solution. In addition, there is no corresponding Eurasian Region for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the republics are divided geographically between WAGGGS' Europe Region and Asia Pacific Region. Besides their shared tsarist and Soviet past, the 12 members of the Eurasian Region have little in common. Some, like Armenia and Azerbaijan, have waged war on each other, some like Georgia and Ukraine, allow open opposition, while others, like Belarus and Turkmenistan, have turned to authoritarianism reminiscent of Soviet times. Further, as none of the republics have had their Scout movements returned for much more than a decade, it is viewed that they would benefit from the expertise of the neighboring Scout associations in those Regions.

In 2011 the Association of Scouts of Tajikistan officially addressed the World Scout Committee with the pledge to join the Asia-Pacific Scout Region.

The region runs or sponsors periodic region-wide jamborees:

• 1st Eurasian Scout Jamboree-Byurakan, Armenia – August 2006
• 2nd Eurasian Scout Jamboree-Orhei, Moldova – July 21–30, 2010 [5]
• 3rd Eurasian Scout Jamboree-Burabay, Kazakhstan – July 20-29, 2014
• 4th Eurasian Scout Jamboree-Minsk, Belarus – July 15-22, 2018 [6]

The members of the Eurasia Regional Scout Committee are at present:

Post	NSO	Name	Terms
Chairman	Moldova	Sergiu Chirică	2016–
Vice-Chairman	Georgia	Irina Pruidze	2012–
Vice-chairman	Kazakhstan	Viktor Deimund	2012–
Member	Russia	Andrey Yemelin	2009–
Member	Belarus	Inna Halubets	2015–

• Piet J. Kroonenberg

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