Azernews.Az

Some countries are looking to block the activity of GUAM, a group of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, the group's secretary-general said during a visit to Baku.
Valeri Chechelashvili told Radio Liberty on Tuesday that all the four member states were striving together to counter the efforts "to form an unhealthy image" about them in the international arena. This, however, should not be construed as GUAM's rivalry with any given country or organization.
Chechelashvili went on to say that the regional group was facing the task of finalizing its initiative put forth at the UN General Assembly in fall 2007 to table conflicts flaring in the GUAM member states' territories. This primarily targets bolstering international support for the efforts to resolve the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, Dnestr and South Ossetia conflicts in peace.
"Our countries are conducting active consultations with potential allies to rally support for the draft resolution that we raised at the UN GA. True, some states are not backing our initiative, but we do believe that the number of our supporters will increase," Chechelashvili said.
He emphasized that the GUAM states were capable of ensuring homeland security.
As for the issue of establishing a peacekeeping unit of the regional organization, he said it was on the agenda but was not a priority for the time being.
The next summit of the GUAM leaders will be held in the Georgian capital Tbilisi this year. A meeting of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly will take place in Baku soon, while the group's national coordinators will gather in Kiev, Ukraine February 13-14.