Ukraine, Kiev, 7 March / Trend corr Z. Novosvitski/ Ukraine has approved the Charter of the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development - GUAM.
On 6 March, the majority in the Ukraine's Parliament voted to pass the law to authorize the GUAM Charter. The faction of the Bloc of Yuliya Timoshenko and the Our Ukraine-People's Self-defence party were amongst those who backed the ratification.
The law will take effect after being signed by Ukraine's President Victor Yushenko. "Approval of the GUAM Charter by Ukraine is a very important factor and is of great significance. It should be taken into consideration that the GUAM Secretariat is located in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine," the GUAM Secretary General Valeriy Chechelashvili told Trend .
Chechelashvili said he would do his best to demonstrate in practice the efficiency of GUAM to the Ukrainian community, the politicians and also the political forces which today do not support the ratification.
According to Chechelashvili, Ukraine has become the third country to ratify the GUAM Charter. "At the recent meeting of the GUAM Council of National Coordinators, a Moldovan representative said that the Moldovan Parliament would also approve the Charter by the time the Tbilisi summit takes place or by the summer vacation," the Secretary-General said.
On 23 May 2006, the Presidents of the GUAM countries ( Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) established the international Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM.
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