BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 23
By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:
Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) will provide the leading state of the South Caucasus region with additional recognition in the world and in global diplomacy, Belarusian expert, director of the Center for the European Integration Problems Yury Shevtsov told Trend.
At the same time, this step will allow Azerbaijan to increase the number of its international contacts, the expert noted.
“In my opinion, Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the NAM will generally raise the country’s prestigious authority even higher,” Shevtsov said. “In general, this is a solid, respected position in a solid international structure.”
The expert noted that the special feature of the NAM is its wide representation, primarily in Asian countries.
“There have been ups and downs in the history of this Movement,” Shevtsov added. “But it’s important that it has existed for a long time, and over many decades it has gained a great history and its significant place in the system of international organizations.”
The meeting of the foreign ministers, which will last until Oct. 24, is taking place in anticipation of the 18th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the NAM member countries.
On Oct. 21-22, a preparatory meeting of officials of the participating countries took place.
The 18th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement member-states will be held in Baku on Oct. 25-26 and Azerbaijan will chair this structure in 2019-2022.
Representatives of 158 countries and international organizations confirmed their participation in the summit. The event will be attended by foreign ministers, heads of state and government and other senior representatives.
NAM, uniting the countries which did not join any military-political blocs during the Cold War, was transformed into one of the important multilateral mechanisms. Today, the NAM is the second political platform after the UN, uniting in its ranks the biggest number of countries.