On April 24, 2012 at the GUAM Secretariat in Kyiv, the Secretary General of GUAM, Ambassador Valery Chechelashvili, held a meeting with the U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Brian A. Nichols.
The Program Coordinator for Political and Legal Issues of the GUAM Secretariat, Mr. Oleh Klynchenko, and the Head of the Law Enforcement Section of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, William Henderson, took part in the meeting.
The topics discussed during the meeting included the situation and future development of interaction within the GUAM framework, cooperation between GUAM and the USA, and between GUAM and other international organizations and structures. Special attention was paid to the issues of combating crime, including illegal drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, and cybercrime, as well as the problem of combating terrorism.
Participants considered the progress made in the implementation of a number of projects within the GUAM framework, supported by the USA, including GUAM’s participation in the UNODC Afghan Opiate Trade Project, the joint GUAM-UNODC Project on combating money-laundering, as well as projects aimed at seizing and confiscating crime proceeds, the possibilities of expanding the GUAM Virtual Center on Combating Terrorism, Organized Crime, Drug Trafficking and Other Dangerous Types of Crime (VLEC), and the prospects for the further development of cooperation in the region on the whole.
