On 1 July 2008, the Third Summit of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM was held in Batumi, Georgia, under the motto “GUAM – Integrating Europe’s East”.
The meetings of the Council of Heads of State, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, GUAM-USA, GUAM-Japan, GUAM-Czech Republic/Vyshegrád Group, GUAM-Poland, Council of National Coordinators, joint sessions of the heads of sector ministries and agencies and other events took place in the framework of the Summit.
The Council of Heads of State held its plenary session in an enlarged format with participation of the Presidents of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova as well as invited guests: the Presidents of the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Lithuania, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan, high-level representatives of the USA, Japan, the Russian Federation, Romania, Slovak Republic, the Republic of Turkey, the Republic of Finland (also in the capacity of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office), representative of the French Republic (also in the capacity of the EU Presidency), representatives of international organizations CIS, League of Arab States, International Road Union, Heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia.
The Council expressed gratitude to H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, for effective Chairmanship in GUAM.
The Chairmanship in the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM was passed on to Georgia.
The Council noted with satisfaction the significant success in GUAM development, in strengthening political interaction and solidarity of the Member States as well as the stance of GUAM at the international arena.
The Council signed the Batumi Declaration “GUAM – Integrating Europe’s East”, having reaffirmed the commonality of interests and objectives of the Member States in their aspiration to stand jointly against common risks and threats as well as to develop consistently a space of integration and security in the GUAM region as an integral part of all-European and Euro-Asian areas.
The Council affirmed the role of GUAM as a mechanism of deepening regional, all-European and Euro-Asian integration, expanding the democratic space and promoting European values in the GUAM region, which contributes to the effective approximation of Member States of GUAM and EU.
The importance of implementation of the GUAM Strategy for Sector Cooperation Development in deepening interaction between the Member States in economic, humanitarian and law-enforcement spheres with the aim of ensuring sustainable development, increasing the well-being and prosperity of their peoples was also underlined.
The Heads of State expressed deep concern about the threats caused by the protracted conflicts, aggressive separatism and extremism, international terrorism and other crimes, and confirmed readiness of GUAM to stand jointly against these threats in close cooperation with international structures.
Paying tribute to the victims of 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine, the sides marked the intention of Ukraine to deliver to the international community the truth about the Holodomor as a crime against humanity in the name of avoiding such tragedies in the future. In this respect, they took special note of the invitation by the President of Ukraine to participate in the events on 22 November 2008 in connection with the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine.
The Batumi Summit reiterated determination of the Member States to assert democratic values, respect for human rights and freedoms, the rule of law, preservation and promotion of spiritual and cultural heritage of the peoples as well as consolidation of the spirit of tolerance, its readiness to make an active contribution to ensuring international peace, security and stability.
The Council adopted the Statement on Development of GUAM Transportation Corridor and the Decision on Intensification of GUAM Sector Cooperation.
The relevant issues of the Organization development were discussed at the Summit. The Council approved the Report of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM for the Period of the Chairmanship of the Republic of Azerbaijan (19 June 2007 – 1 July 2008) and the Program of the Chairmanship of Georgia in GUAM for 2008-2009.
The Council took note of the results of joint sessions of the sector working groups on economic, humanitarian and law-enforcement cooperation at the level of heads of relevant ministries and agencies held in the framework of the Summit and adopted the Decision on Intensification of Sector Cooperation.
Considering the wide participation of the States and international organizations at Batumi Summit as a sign of growing support to GUAM and acknowledgement of its role in all-European and Euro-Asian integration processes and attaching importance to strengthening and expanding international relations and promoting GUAM partnership in both European and Asian directions in accordance with the priorities of cooperation defined at the Baku Summit of 2007.
The Summit emphasized with satisfaction the broadening of GUAM-US partnership on implementation of new technical assistance projects in various spheres of cooperation, inter alia, with the purpose of increasing security of the GUAM transportation corridor and expressed the readiness of GUAM to deepen partner relations with Poland, Japan, Czech Republic, and other interested states and international organization in elaborating and implementing joint projects.
The Summit participants expressed gratitude to the Georgian side for the excellent organization of the Batumi Summit and extended best wishes for its successful Chairmanship.
