On February 26, 2009 the Inauguration of the Secretariat of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM took place in Kyiv. The 9th session of the GUAM Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held within the framework of Inauguration event.
Various topics of political interaction, sectoral cooperation and external partnership were discussed and respective decisions were adopted.
At the special meeting dedicated to the inauguration the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine took place. Moldova was represented by the Ambassador to Ukraine. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of the GUAM partner-countries – USA, Japan, Poland and the Czech Republic. During the meeting Mr. Jan Kelly, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State addressed meeting through Videoconference system. The Japanese representative presented the personal address of Mr. Shintaro Ito, the State Secretary for Foreign of Japan. The importance of developing the cooperation with GUAM was also emphasized by Czech and Polish delegations.
Above-mentioned sessions were chaired by Mr. Grigol Vashadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, as a representative of a country holding Chairmanship in the Organization.
The same day Mr. Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine met the GUAM Foreign Ministers and Secretary General.
The inauguration event was concluded with the press-conference and reception in the GUAM Secretariat. The reception was attended by the delegations of GUAM member-states and the representatives of the Diplomatic Corp accredited to Ukraine.
