GUAM headquarters opens in Kiev

Ukraine, Kiev, Feb. 26 / Trend corr. D.Babesyuk /

The new GUAM headquarters opened in Kiev. The office is located on Freedom Square.

The Georgian, Azerbaijani and Ukrainian foreign ministers participated in the opening ceremony.

GUAM Secretary General Valery Chechelashvili took part in the session.

The Moldovan, Japanese, Polish, U.S. and Czech ambassadors were also present.

Top U.S. official Ian Kelly delivered his greetings to the attendees via an Internet conference.

Georgia>, , and in 1997 during an EU presidential summit in Strasbourg. In 1999, <> joined the organization and left four years later. In 2006, GUAM was renamed the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development -

A delegation of GUAM representatives met Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

Georgian and Azebaijani foreign ministers Grigol Vashadze and Elmar Mammadyarov said GUAM is vital to resolving conflicts in the region.

Mammadyarov said goods turnover between the GUAM member-countries had grown to $4.1 billion.

"We began with $1 billion. We are moving in the right direction," Mammadyarov said.

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