Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

GUAM -- a group of four former Soviet republics -- may consider applications for membership from other states, Secretary General Valery Chechelashvili said at a press conference on the results of a GUAM session in the Azerbaijani capital Baku last week.

The activities carried out so far and prospects of further cooperation among the member states were on agenda of the two-day meeting of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly in Baku.

According to Chechelashvili, GUAM, which comprises Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, is an "open organization" and if a country sharing the principles stated in the statutes of the organization submits a bid for membership, this request will be taken into consideration by the foreign ministers of the four GUAM member states.

However, Chechelashvilli noted that a GUAM expansion is not the ultimate goal.

"Our aim is the development of quadrilateral cooperation and formation of a civilized partnership in the Black Sea and Caspian regions based on European principles, standards and practices of cooperation, for one simple reason that one of the main common foreign policy priorities of our countries is drawing closer to the European Union," Chechelashvili said.

Chechelashvili also stressed that GUAM does everything in its power to rally support of the international community for the position of its members on protracted conflicts, on the basis of unconditional and full implementation of the principles of international law.

According to Chechelashvili, all these conflicts have their own format, based on which a search for their peaceful settlement is undertaken. Moreover, the organization has a well-defined platform for the settlement of these conflicts.

Chechelashvili expressed hope for all parties' intensifying their efforts aimed at "finding appropriate solutions under existing mechanisms".

He also referred to the UN General Assembly draft resolution, the need for adoption of which was expressed in New York by the members of the organization. The document deals with the protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace and security.

"This is a very complicated job requiring patient explanation of our position to all our partners, and I think that...the possibility of us securing a decisive majority of votes on this resolution at the UN General Assembly is very high," Chechelashvili said.

A statement issued in Baku following the fifth session of the GUAM PA last Thursday said the organization is concerned about the lack of progress in resolving the protracted conflicts in the GUAM member states.

Azerbaijan's chairmanship in the regional group GUAM in 2012 has been very successful, Chechelashvili told journalists a day earlier.

"Many important events have been held, with the last one being in Dublin, where a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers took place," Chechelashvili said. "The Azerbaijani chairmanship ended in New York on a very good note. A resolution was adopted by consensus on cooperation between the UN and GUAM, which strengthens our credibility, reputation and position in the system of international relations."

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, speaking of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the meeting, said the OSCE Minsk Group has not achieved significant progress in resolving the long-standing conflict.

Azimov also expressed hope that Ukraine during its OSCE chairmanship in 2013 will always focus on the GUAM platform.

"Azerbaijan during its chairmanship in GUAM voiced a number of important initiatives and tried to expand the organization's relations on the international arena," Azimov said.

Appreciating the work of the GUAM Secretariat, Azimov stressed that it had initiated regional projects and worked hard to develop international cooperation. He noted that it is extremely important to achieve specific results in GUAM's activity.

"Conflicts occur in most member countries and resolving these conflicts must be a priority in joint activity," Azimov said, adding that much has to be done to increase the trade turnover, develop business relations and tourism.

Azerbaijani MP Elton Mammadov, chairing the GUAM PA meeting, said the unresolved conflicts in the territory of GUAM member states significantly affect Europe's security.

Mammadov said it is possible to restore stability in the region only within the internationally recognized territorial integrity of countries.

According to Mammadov, the GUAM PA meeting will contribute to the development of cooperation between GUAM member countries.

According to the Azerbaijani parliament's first Deputy Speaker, Ziyafat Asgarov, GUAM will become one of the most influential organizations in the world in the near future.

Asgarov said at the meeting that the role of parliamentary diplomacy is growing in today's world and this meeting became the largest in terms of its composition among the meetings that the organization has held so far.

"We live at a time when regional integration processes are ongoing. GUAM has begun to play an important role in ensuring regional security," Asgarov added.

The meeting agenda included the integration of the GUAM member states into Europe, cooperation within the EU's Eastern Partnership program, the role of parliaments in ensuring regional security, the energy potential of the regional countries and other issues.

The fifth meeting was attended by national delegations of the GUAM PA, delegations of the Baltic Assembly, parliaments of the Benelux countries, the parliamentary delegations of the Visegrad Group member countries, as well as representatives of ministries and other agencies of Azerbaijan, embassies of GUAM PA member countries and partner countries accredited in Azerbaijan.

GUAM was established by the post-Soviet countries in 1997 during the EU presidential summit in Strasbourg. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the organization, but withdrew four years later.