On September 26th, 2014, the 23th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of GUAM took place in New York City within the framework of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly.
This meeting involved the following officials: Mr. E. Mamedyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Mrs. M. Pandzhikidze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia; Mrs. N. Gherman, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova who chaired the meeting; Mr. U. Sergeev, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to UN; and Mr. V. Chechelashvili, the Secretary General of GUAM.
The CMFA expressed its deep concern due to the situation occurring as a result of aggressive actions aimed against Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and reaffirmed its commitment to the universally-recognized norms and principles of international law, the aims and purposes established in the Charter of the United Nations Organization and in the GUAM Charter, and the provisions of the basic documents of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The CMFA condemned the so-called “elections in the Gossovet” (state assembly) in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC) and in the City of Sevastopol, Ukraine, which were held on September 14, 2014. The CMFA stressed that these “elections” were illegal and that they have not changed the status of the ARC and the City of Sevastopol in terms of Ukraine’s international recognised borders. The CMFA also stressed the necessity of implementing states’ international commitments to non-interference in other country’s events. The CMFA is confident that the settlement of any conflict should be carried out exclusively on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognised borders of United Nations’ member states. The territory of a state cannot be considered as a purchase or military occupation as a result of a threat by force or it’s use in violation of the relevant rules of international law. In any case, any territorial gains that have occurred as a result of military operations or any other force cannot be recognised as legal.
The CMFA welcomed the holding of appropriate consultations with a view to elaborating on the mechanism for strengthening cooperation, peace and stability within the GUAM region.
The CMFA took into account information from the Presidency about the work that is being carried out to promote the UN Draft Resolution “Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development” and stressed the necessity of intensifying consultations on the Draft Resolution’s text, with a view to its possible extension on voting during the 69th Session of GA UN.
The CMFA welcomed the adoption of Resolutions 68/262 “The territorial integrity of Ukraine” and 68/274 “Status of internally displaced persons and refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia, and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia” during the 68th Session of the GA UN.
The CMFA discussed a range of issues regarding GUAM’s interparliamentary cooperation and upheld its intention to host meetings of the Bureau and committees of the GUAM PA at the GUAM Secretariat on October 27, 2014 in order to appropriately prepare for the GUAM PA Session in November 2014 in Chisinau.
The CMFA supported the GUAM PA’s intention to form a group of observers for the extraordinary parliamentary elections, to be held on October 26, 2014 in Ukraine, and for the regular parliamentary elections, to be held on November 30, 2014 in the Republic of Moldova.
The CMFA discussed a range of issues related to GUAM sectoral cooperation, in particular, cooperation in combatting terrorism, organised crime and drug trafficking, and also in the field of economy and trade, as well as identifying and preventing cross-border ecological crimes.
The CMFA discussed issues regarding GUAM’s cooperation with other states and international organisations. In particular, they spoke about the holding of the next GUAM-USA and GUAM-Japan meetings at the level of CMFA, as well as receiving information on developments with respect to cooperation between GUAM and the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and other international organisations.
The venue and date of the next CMFA meeting shall be agreed upon through diplomatic channels.
