(Redirected from GUAM)
: ''GUAM redirects here. See
Guam for the Pacific island territory.''
The 'GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development' (; ; ) is a regional organization of four
CIS states:
Georgia,
Ukraine,
Azerbaijan, and
Moldova. The group is sometimes seen as a way of countering the influence of
Russia in the area and a strategy backed by the
United States.
[1] However, GUAM leaders repeatedly and officially dismiss such claims and declare their strong willingness to develop close friendly relations with Russia. Moreover,
Azerbaijan, the group's main energy power, has managed to avoid any controversies with Russia in recent years.
Though at one point the GUAM was generally considered to have stagnated, recent developments have caused speculation on the possible revival of the organization.
In
1999, the organisation was renamed 'GUUAM' due to the membership of
Uzbekistan, which however withdrew from the organisation in
May 5,
2005, causing the restoration of the original name.
In
May 22 to
May 23,
2006, Ukraine and Azerbaijan announced plans to further increase the GUAM member relations by renaming the organization ''GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development'' and establishing its headquarters in the Ukrainian capital.
[2] Azerbaijani president
Ilham Aliyev will be elected as the first secretary general of the organization. The other members said this was a remarkable step and development. The summit participants are also expected to adopt GUAM by-laws, a declaration and a communiqué.
On
May 30,
2006 the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced plans to establish GUAM peacekeeping forces.
[3]
History
Cooperation between Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova started with the GUAM consultative forum, established on
October 10,
1997, in
Strasbourg and named after the initial letters of each of those countries. In April
1999, Uzbekistan also joined, changing the name of the grouping to GUUAM.
A summit in
Yalta on
June 6 to
June 7,
2001, was accompanied by the signing of GUUAM's charter, which formalized the organization.
In
2002, Uzbekistan however announced that it planned to withdraw from the organization, and following this announcement started to ignore GUUAM summits and meetings.
In the following years the grouping was generally considered to have stagnated: Among other things, the 2004 meeting in
Yalta was only attended by two of the five leaders while the GUUAM official website still showed the
old Georgian flag and listed Uzbekistan as a member.
However the recent series of "
color revolutions" in Georgia and Ukraine, as well as a perceived pro-Western and anti-Russian shift in the political agenda of the Moldovan Communist governing party, followed by increased cooperation and coordination between these three countries, has led many to speculate on the possible revival of GUUAM.
[4]
The most recent summit of GUUAM took place in
Chişinău, Moldova, on
April 22,
2005. The
president of Uzbekistan,
Islom Karimov failed to attend, as did the president of Poland,
Aleksander Kwaśniewski, who had been invited as an observer. The president of
Romania,
Traian Băsescu, and of
Lithuania,
Valdas Adamkus, both participated as observers, as did the
US Department of State special representative for
Eurasian conflicts,
Steven Mann, and the
OSCE Secretary General
Ján Kubiš. The Russian ambassador in Chişinău criticized the fact that Russia was not invited to attend.
[5] Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, said after the summit: "Our organization is emerging as a powerful force, participating in resolving problems in the
Caspian-
Black Sea region" while the president of Ukraine,
Viktor Yushchenko, said that a new page had been written in the history of the organization.
[6]
On
May 24,
2005, shortly after the
Andijan massacre, Uzbekistan finally gave an official notice of withdrawal from the organization to the Moldovan presidency, thus changing the group's name back to GUAM.
On
April 21, the GUAM countries formed a common front on several issues in the CIS Foreign Ministers Council that was held at that time in Moscow. Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova lodged complaints against restriction imposed by Russia against some of their national products. At the same time, the four GUAM countries made a proposal to discuss the "frozen conflicts" of
Transnistria,
Abkhazia,
South Ossetia (which remain under de facto Russian military control) and
Nagorno-Karabakh. Lastly the other three GUAM nations supported Ukraine's proposal to condemn the
Holodomor, the
1930s famine in Ukraine, as a
genocide.
[7]
On
June 19,
2007, presidents of
Lithuania,
Poland and
Romania joined the leaders of GUAM member states at the GUAM summit in
Baku[8]. Participating at the summit were also the Vice-President of
Bulgaria, Vice-Speaker of
Estonian parliament, Minister of Economy of
Latvia, and the high-level representatives of the
United States,
Japan,
OSCE, BSEC,
UNESCO, and heads of diplomatic missions accredited in
Azerbaijan[9].
Members
★ Current members:
★
★ (1997)
★
★ (1997)
★
★ (1997)
★
★ (1997)
★ Former members:
★
★ (1999; withdrawn 2005)
★ Observers:
★
★
★
★
Organizational structure
GUAM is organized as follows:
★ An annual meeting occurs between the Presidents of GUAM member states in
Yalta. This is considered the supreme body of the organization.
★ The executive body is the Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the GUAM states.
★ The working body is the Committee of National Coordinators (CNC) consisting of one coordinator from each GUAM member state.
★ The Information Office of the GUAM is in
Kiev.
★ There are eight
working groups, for the following topics:
power engineering; transport; trade and
economics;
information science and
telecommunications; culture; science and education;
tourism; the struggle against
terrorism,
organized crime and
dissemination of drugs.
Issues
One of the issues associated with GUAM is competition between two proposed transportation corridors to better link
Europe with
Asia. Russia, Azerbaijan, and
Iran have already been through rounds of negotiation on their plan, the
North-South Transportation Corridor (
INSTC); neighbouring countries (formerly, but no longer with the understandable exception of
Armenia) have expressed enthusiasm as well. This corridor would travel along the border between Russia and the
Baltic states of the
European Union, then continue south through Ukraine, The USA would prefer the critical transportation corridor bypass both Russia and Iran. The plan proposed to GUAM by the United States crosses both the
Black Sea and the
Caspian Sea.
Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko said at the summit that the new charter set objectives for cooperation, such as promoting democratic values, ensuring stable development, enhancing international and regional security and stepping up European integration.
[10]
Critics point out that only Georgia and Ukraine have shown a deep commitment to democratic values. Moldova's
2000 elections were won by
Communist Party of Moldova who have, according to same critics, realigned their foreign policy towards Europe shortly before the parliamentary election held in March of
2005.
Comparison
See also
References
1. The Battle of Forums: Transformation of Regional Organizations in Eurasia Ziyadov, Taleh
2. Foreign Ministers of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova Discussed the Upcoming Guam Summit
3. Ukraine suggests setting up GUAM peacekeeping unit
4. Axis of Evil Shaping Against Moscow
5. Itar-Tass article
6. GUAM Leaders Hail Chisinau Summit
7. CIS Split at Ministerial Conference
8. Lithuanian President's Office: President to Attend GUAM Summit in Baku
9. Embassy of Azerbaijan in the U.S.: Baku hosts GUAM Second Summit
10. Russian Deputy FM: "GUAM not anti-Russian group"
External links
★
Official website
★
Ukraine suggests setting up GUAM peacekeeping unit
★
Azerbaijan-GUAM
★
Ukranian President Yushchenko: "GUAM will acquire the status of an international organization May 23"
★
GUAM News (subscribers only)
★
Baku Today
★
Ukraine says GUAM must focus on cooperation with EU, NATO
★
Official website
★
The GUUAM Group: History and Principles
★
Welcome to TRACECA
★
GUAM Group
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