GUAM-Japan Joint Press Release on the sidelines of the OSCE Council of Ministers

On December 5, 2019, in Bratislava, the high-level meetings of the representatives of GUAM and Japan were held on the sidelines of the OSCE Council of Ministers.

The GUAM side was represented by: H.E. Mr. Prystaiko Vadym, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, in capacity of GUAM Chairman-in-office and H.E. Mr. Efendiev Altai, GUAM Secretary General.

The Japanese side was represented by H.E. Mr. Nakatani Shinichi, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan.

The two sides reconfirmed their adherence to the universally recognized norms and principles of international law, including those enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and underlined the importance of international efforts aimed at earliest settlement of the conflicts in the GUAM area on a basis of respect to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of the States.

The two sides emphasized the importance of the GUAM-Japan cooperation, which aims at ensuring peace, security, prosperity and stability on both regional and interregional levels and recalled their commitment to respect the universal values such as the rule of law, democracy, and human rights.

The two sides expressed their strong intention for the implementation of the “GUAM-Japan Cooperation Program” that provides a solid ground for developing new projects in order to fostering cooperation between GUAM and Japan in areas of mutual interest, such as trade and investments, energy, emergency situations, tourism, transport, culture, agriculture, medical care and environment.

The sides took note of the outcome of the Workshop on Investment Promotion held in Japan on March 17-23, 2019, and the first phase of the press tour for the Japanese mass-media in the territories of Azerbaijan and Georgia on May-June, 2019. The two sides decided to organize the Workshop on customs next year in Japan. The GUAM member states expressed their appreciation to Japan’s support in preparing and conducting these events.

The sides reconfirmed the interest and readiness to maintain high-level dialogue, including both on GUAM-Japan cooperation and a wide range of regional and global issues.

The time and venue of the next GUAM-Japan meeting will be agreed through diplomatic channels.