CBN, 25 April 2005

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Leaders of the GUUAM alliance - standing for Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova - ended the next summit signing declaration For Democracy, Stability and Development, in Chisinau, Moldova, on April 22. The document in particular focuses on the necessity of intensifying steps in the direction of the democratization of societies within the GUUAM member states, the regulation of frozen conflicts and joining efforts on integration in to Europe among the member states.

"This summit is a historic moment. The presence of the Lithuanian and Romanian presidents, Valdas Adamkus and Traian Basescu, at the summit shows that GUUAM is turning into a regional organization capable of promoting democratic values in the region," Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said in his opening speech.

Uzbekistan stayed away after president Islam Karimov said his country is considering withdrawal from GUUAM following the recent developments in Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. The US Department of State chief advisor on Europe, Ambassador Steven Mann also joined the summit.

Voronin, who gained the presidency of the organization from Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, said that Moldova will make great efforts to extend cooperation within GUUAM. "We came to leadership of the organization in a moment when it is becoming a full regional organization and we are obliged to do our utmost to reach our goals," Voronin added.

According to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, GUUAM's goal is to create a zone of security, stability and prosperity which is closely linked with the European Union and is developing under European rules and standards. "I think that to achieve this we should pass on to a qualitatively new level, in particular, to create a regional international organization on the basis of GUUAM," Yushchenko said.

Yushchenko suggested that free and fair elections should be held in the supreme council of the Transnistria region as part of his plan to settle the Transnistria conflict. According to Yushchenko, GUUAM states should set up a joint military unit to take part in operations under the aegis of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

"The increasing dangers of terrorism, separatism, extremism and transnational organized crime are a direct threat to democracy and economic development. To the same degree this is true of the frozen conflicts in our union's member states. For this reason, we should step up joint efforts to resolve them as soon as possible," Yushchenko said.

"Probably we should think of a mechanism for utilizing the peacekeeping potential of the GUUAM states, for instance of setting up a joint military unit to take part in operations under the aegis of the UN and the OSCE," Yushchenko added.

The Ukrainian president said that fully-fledged implementation of the accord on the creation of a free trade zone should become a priority task for the member states of GUUAM.

Voronin said that Moldova welcomes Ukraine's initiative aimed at solving the conflict with the breakaway Transnistria region. "Moldova maintains a serious attitude towards this initiative and will study it carefully," Voronin added. Voronin agreed with Yushchenko that new international players should join the Transnistria settlement talks.

• Without Russian base

"We would like much more energetic help from the international community in settling both our conflicts and those throughout the former Soviet Union," the president said.

Just as Georgia is holding talks with Russia on the withdrawal of its military bases from Georgian territory, there is also the question of the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Moldova.

"This is based on the principle that not a single military base can be located in another country against the will of their people. I can say that Russian military bases in Georgia are counter to the will of the Georgian people. This serves neither Russia's nor Georgia's interests. It helps neither bilateral relations nor regional security," the Georgian president said.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said that GUUAM has entered a new period in its existence and will play an important role in integration with the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic zone.

Aliyev said that GUUAM member states also share a common misfortune as all of the conflicts in the post conflict zone are in the territories of member states and called to struggle against these evils within common values and frameworks.

"Just as the Council of Europe did and called and declared Armenia an occupant. We must take examples from Europe. Azerbaijan is ready to grant a high autonomous status for Nagorny Karabakh within its territory but by no means can we agree to yield sovereignty here," Aliyev added.

Aliyev said that the conflicts in the Transnistria region, Nagorny Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia "do not allow these countries to develop normally and hinder European integration efforts." Aliyev added that, "The caveman's approach to the settlement of these problems does not have a future. We must find civilized mechanisms to solve these problems."

The GUUAM summit in Chisinau sparked jealous reaction in Russia, which sees the organization as an opponent to the Moscow dominated CIS. The chairman of the Russian State Duma committee on international affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, said he did not believe that the new alliance had any prospects.

"One has the impression that the idea behind GUUAM has never gone beyond its members distancing themselves from Russia and asserting their independence and sovereignty rather than breaking off all cooperation with our country. I think that this is obviously not an adequate basis for integration. It may last for some time as a political project and some kind of external support may be obtained for that project. But the moment the project is realized, the moment a structure excluding and bypassing Russia is created, I am positive that interest in that structure will fall instantaneously and is bound to collapse, because there are simply no other circumstances for keeping GUUAM countries together," Kosachev said.