On December 7, 2011 in Vilnius, the 16th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (CMFA) took place. This event involved the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova, Yurie Leanca (who chaired the meeting), Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan E. Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia G. Vashadze, Ukrainian Ambassador to Lithuania V. Zhovtenko, and GUAM Secretary General Valeri Chechelashvili.
CMFA considered issues of political cooperation and supported the Council of GUAM National Coordinators’ proposal regarding the text of the United Nations draft resolutions “Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development” and the draft resolution “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM” for their proposal at the session of the UN General Assembly
CMFA applauded the organisation of the Bureau of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly (on November 24, 2011 at the GUAM Secretariat in Kyiv) and expressed hope that the formation of Parliamentary Assembly (PA) Committees and their future work will improve the efficiency of parliamentary cooperation between GUAM member states and that the GUAM PA’s cooperation with the parliamentary authorities of other international organisations, including the Baltic Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Benelux, will continue to thrive.
CMFA reaffirmed its commitment of support for the territorial integrity of GUAM member states and, taking into account the respective statement of the Bureau of the GUAM PA on November 24, 2011, considers that the so-called presidential elections in the Tskhinvali region/ South Ossetia, Georgia, conducted in November 2011, are illegitimate and that they do not entail legal consequences.
CMFA discussed issues surrounding cooperation between GUAM and other partner countries and international organisations, in particular, the organisation of the next GUAM-US and GUAM-Japan meeting at the level at the Council of GUAM National Coordinators level.
CMFA was briefed by the Secretariat on the implementation of the “GUAM Action Plan to Strengthen Sectoral Cooperation”, adopted during the 15th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (held in Warsaw, Poland on September 29, 2011), and instructed the Council of National Coordinators (CNC) to exercise control of its implementation.
CMFA was briefed by the CNC on GUAM cooperation with other international organisations (including UNODC, the OECD and the International Road Transport Union) and instructed the CNC to continue work on implementing cooperation projects and programmes of mutual interest.
CMFA noted the need for continued work in ensuring coordinated efforts between GUAM member states through their participation in the “flagship” Eastern Partnership initiatives “Integrated Border Management” and “Prevention, Preparedness and Response to Natural and Man-made Disasters”, and recommended that the Secretariat and relevant agencies of GUAM member states continue consultations in this respect.
CMFA took the decision to transfer the presidency of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM to the Republic of Azerbaijan, and took note of information from the Azerbaijani participants about the main priorities of the proposed Programme for the Republic of Azerbaijan’s Presidency of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM for 2012. The draft of this document will be presented in the near future.
The 2nd Meeting of the GUAM-Japan Council of Foreign Ministers took place as part of the 18th meeting of OSCE Foreign Ministers.
CMFA decided to hold its next meeting, if possible, no later than the first ten days of February 2012. The location for this meeting shall be agreed upon through diplomatic channels.
