GUAM Ministerial Discusses Joint Peacekeeping Forces

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 26 Sep.'06 / 11:19

The Foreign Ministers from GUAM member states – Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova – who met in New York on September 25 on the sidelines of the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly, decided to intensify efforts for the formation of GUAM peacekeeping forces and civilian police units.

According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, the participants focused on methods of conflict resolution.

The GUAM Ministerial heard Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili’s report regarding the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts and shared Tbilisi’s position about the necessity to change the current Russian-led peacekeeping and negotiating formats.

“It was decided that the possibility of involving GUAM civilian police forces in the ongoing peace operations in Abkhazia and South Ossetia would be discussed at a later date,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

The GUAM Ministerial elected Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Chechelashvili as the first Secretary General of the organization. As a result, Chechelashvili has resigned from the Deputy Foreign Minister’s position.