GUAM Secretary General: Supplies of gas from Azerbaijan - a priority

In 2013, Georgia became the chairman of the GUAM. This regional organization was established by Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova as a consultative forum in 1997. In 2006 the GUAM Charter was signed. Since its establishment, the alliance has been criticized for being passive and anti-Russian. In an interview with the radio station "Deutsche Welle" Secretary General of GUAM Valery Chechelashvili commented on the allegations.

- Many experts believe GUAM irritant to Russia. Can we consider Georgia's membership in GUAM contradicts the Ivanishvili government’s policy?

On that question Chechelashvili said that three other members of GUAM have  good relations with Russia and at the same time the foreign policy of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

"I think a good relationship with Russia is not dependent on the activity of Georgia in GUAM. Also, I do not understand how a free trade zone or GUAM joint fight against organized crime may conflict with the interests of third countries," he said.

- Can GUAM be considered an alternative to the CIS?

Secretary General on the issue said that there are no resources for this. GUAM creation was logic was simple: the four states that have already been presented in various international organizations and have common positions on various issues - largely because they have similar foreign policy priorities. These countries have decided to band together to collectively defend their interests in the international arena. “Our goal is the development of quadrilateral cooperation and the formation of civilized partnership in the Black Sea-Caspian region. At the core of this partnership are the European values,” the Secretary General said.

“GUAM is an open organization and any nation that shares our principles may apply for membership. To date, there are no such requests, respectively, we are not talking about the expansion of GUAM,” said Chechelashvili.

How viable is GUAM?

 GUAM weakness is that there are only four states and the organization cannot claim to be a universal platform for regional cooperation.

"As for the assigned tasks, they are partly fulfilled. Successfully operates the free trade zone. In 2012, the collective turnover of GUAM was $ 4.5 billion, which is three times more than in 2006, when the zone was created. 20% of the total foreign trade turnover of Georgia is in the zone of GUAM.

  One of the priority projects is supply of liquefied natural gas from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Ukraine and Moldova. Here, we count on the assistance of external partners, including Japan.

Finally, we were able to put before the UN General Assembly a resolution of protracted conflicts in the GUAM. The document is primarily based on the principle of territorial integrity. Now we are trying to attract as many allies as possible in support of this document. This is one of the main tasks of Georgia during the presidency in 2013," concluded Chechelashvili. -02D-