We present to your attention main points from the Interview of Ambassador Altai Efendiev, Secretary General of the Organization for Democracy & Economic Development – GUAM:

«…First of all, the geopolitical context and the situation both in the region and our countries have changed since 2014 and, in this regard, GUAM importance has increased as a regional organization, designed to play a constructive role in stabilizing the situation in the region based on consolidating the common interests of the Member States and their practical implementation…»

«…We continue cooperation in many areas – in tourism, youth and sports, cybersecurity, counteraction and elimination of the consequences of natural and human-caused disasters, the fight against organized crime, etc. Important components of our cooperation are political coordination, parliamentary direction and interaction of consular services.

…In parallel to these cooperation areas, we also initiated the process for agreeing our medium and long-term development strategy based on the Chairman’s Vision Paper, adopted by the GUAM Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs at the meeting, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of GUAM, held in Tbilisi during the Georgian Chairmanship in 2017.

A further important initiative is the development of the GUAM Communication Strategy.

Therefore … I assess the level of cooperation as having very good prospects. We have a good dynamic, we have decided on specific priorities, goals and main areas of cooperation. By their nature, the determined topics can bring our countries to a qualitatively new level of cooperation…»

«…If we succeed by joint efforts in fully implementing the above-mentioned and turning the dynamically developing region into a vital transport artery connecting East and West, then the international community will be interested in its stability and security. Accordingly, this situation will create a completely different background and preconditions for a fair resolution of conflicts in the GUAM area…»

Read full Interview in Russian.