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The priorities of the CSTO and GUAM are different - Secretary General of GUAM

Politics Materials 7 February 2009 09:01 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, February 6 / correspondent. Trend N. Abdullayeva / CSTO and GUAM have different priorities for action, though their interests do not intersect, said Secretary General of GUAM.

CSTO considers political-military component as an important area of cooperation, while the main directions of GUAM are to create spaces of civilized partnership in the region and implementation of specific projects in the area of sectoral cooperation, such as transport, energy, tourism, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, Secretary General of the organization Valery Chechelashvili told Trend on Friday, via telephone from Kiev.

On Wednesday CSTO countries agreed to establish a common force to combat terrorism and other threats, noting that NATO has not yet responded to the call to work.

CSTO includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus and Uzbekistan, which has decided to join the regional military-political bloc, only on special occasions.

The composition of the CSTO and GUAM are different, said the diplomat. "They are involved in the development of cooperation in the territory of their own countries, but we do promote cooperation in the Black Sea-Caspian region, in the territory of our four states", - he said and added that "The time will show which concept is better".

Commenting on the signing of a document on the establishment of the CSTO general military forces Chechelavshvili said that he was not familiar with it. "I did not read it, but I can say that's their business. This is a sovereign state, and they are entitled to take such decisions - he said. - It is obvious that these signatures, in any case, clearly demonstrate the difference in the approaches of organizations CSTO and GUAM and how to develop international cooperation ".

Chechelashvili believes that the objectives and principles and spirit of cooperation that formed in declarations of GUAM, most accurately reflects the current wishes of the members of the organization. "We believe that cooperation in economy, trade, transport, tourism - this is the priority, which we have to focus on today, and that's exactly what we are doing", - he said. But if heads of state believe that the military-political component requires the development, then that will happen, said Chechelashvili.

The format of GUAM was established post-Soviet countries in 1997 during the Summit of Heads of States of the European Union in Strasbourg. In 1999, in the format of Uzbekistan, and four years left. In 2006, the first summit of the format in Kiev it was decided to declare GUAM an international organization and a new title: "Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM".

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