Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend S.Agayeva / President of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, will not be able to participate in the forthcoming summit of "Organization for Democracy and Economic Development -GUAM" in Baku.
"The date of the summit, 18-19 June, coincides with the visit of the President to Brussels. Annually this time, the President of Moldova visits the headquarters of the European Union. The visit to Brussels was planned at the beginning of the year and it was just too late to change anything," the Moldovan President's Press Secretary, Natalie Vishanu, reported on 7 June by telephone.
Moldova is expected to be represented at the GUAM summit by Prime Minister, Vasily Tarlev, she said.
Accordingly Moldova will be represented at the meeting of GUAM Foreign Ministers in Baku on 18 June by Deputy Minister, Valerie Ostalep. The Foreign Minster will accompany the President during his visit to Brussels.
During a telephone conversation, Valeriy Chechelashvili, the GUAM Secretary General, said that the meeting will bring together Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Mikhael Saakashviili, Vladimir Voronin of Moldova, and Victor Yuschenko of Ukraine. Moreover, it will unite the Romanian President Trian Basescu, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and Polish President Lekh Kachinski. "At the same time, the Bulgarian Vice President, the Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister, the US Deputy Secretary of State and more from the US, and Croatian President Stepan Mesich are also expected to be attendance, he added. Arrangements for the summit and consultations with high ranking guests are in progress." The GUAM Secretary General voiced his hope to see new names in the list of participants. As an alternative to CIS the four post-Soviet republics of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova established this format in 1999 during the summit of the Head of State of the European Union member-countries in Strasbourg. In 1999 Uzbekistan joined the organization, but left after four years. GUAM was established as an economic alliance of countries - potential participants of energy resource transportation projects. Gradually, the military-political component, particularly, the establishment of peacemaking forces, have been observed in its activities. The issue is expected to be under discussion at the forthcoming summit of GUAM in Baku.