GUAM: THE GEORGIAN PERSPECTIVE
Abstract
The pursuit of effective mechanisms for developing regional cooperation has become one of the major dimensions of Georgian foreign policy. A fundamental attribute of such mechanisms should be a responsiveness the interests of the parties involved and the ability to contribute to the promotion of stability and development in the respective region. In an effort to boost its European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, Georgia is more actively looking into the opportunities that emerge from forging viable partnerships with like-minded countries. First of all, this refers to those sharing a common his-tory with Georgia and facing many similar challenges characteristic to the process of post-Soviet transformation. Georgia is gradually distancing itself from the Commonwealth of Inde-pendent States (CIS), which has long discredit-ed itself as a worthy international organization. At the same time, strengthening ties with those CIS members that declare adherence to the same democratic values and have a common understanding of the existing geopolitical environment and the role they have to play in it is an important element in Georgia’s foreign relations. In many respects, by building strong alliances amongst its regional partners, Georgia will maximize its chances for securing successful integration into the larger European and Euro Atlantic family. This paper looks at the opportunities that rise for Georgia from its membership in the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development GUAM (here in after GUAM). Established on 23 May 2006 as a regional organization, GUAM signified a joint effort on the part of the original group of four—Georgia, Ukraine Azerbaijan, Moldova—to breathe life into a decade-long, but futile, cooperative framework that originally united these countries around the common interest of fostering security and political and economic cooperation.1 This article seeks to assess the opportunities that revitalized GUAM provides its members, particularly Georgia. In addition, it will attempt to analyze the possibility of GUAM escaping the danger of being merely a “talk shop” and the chances for its development into a valuable forum for building common approaches toward the most crucial is-sues facing its member countries.
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GUAM as a consultative forum was set up by four countries¯Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova¯on 10 October, 1997. The meeting of the coun-tries’ four presidents took place during the summit of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and issued a joint com-muniqué that expressed the willingness of the participat-ing countries to cooperate closer in several strategic di-rections; namely, (i) development of transportation and communication corridors, (ii) integration into European and Euro-Atlantic institutions, (iii) peaceful settlement of conflicts, and (iv) interaction within regional and interna-tional organizations. On 7 June, 2001, the Yalta summit institutionalized GUUAM and laid down its structure,objectives, and principles. In 1999-2005, the group changed its name to GUUAM reflecting Uzbekistan’s membership.
See: V. Socor, “Summit Takes Stock of GUAM’s Projects, Institutional Development,” Eurasia Daily Monitor,The Jamestown Foundation, Vol. 4, Issue 120, 20 June, 2007.
See: The Chisinau Declaration of the GUUAM Heads of State “In the Name of Democracy, Stability and Devel-opment,” available at [www.guam.org.ua].
See: GUAM Factsheet, Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia [www.mfa.gov.ge].
See: I. Makovetskiy, “GUAM: ob’ediniaia kontinenty,” Analiticheskaia gruppa “Nashe mnenie,” 11 July, 2007,available at [http://www.nmnby.org/pub/0707/11m.html].
Notably, strong U.S. support of the initiative (both political and financial) was interpreted by many in Russia as an attempt to create an anti-Russian coalition in its own backyard.
See: “GUAM: Test for Ability to Act,” Ukrainian Monitor, Policy Paper #5, Center for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine, June 2005, available at [http://cpcfpu.org.ua/en/projects/foreignpolicy/papers/052005/].
V. Socor, “Energy Insecurity, Frozen Conflicts Preoccupy GUAM Summit in Kyiv,” Eurasia Daily Monitor, The Jamestown Foundation, Thursday, Vol. 3, Issue 102, 25 May, 2006.
In 2003, by a Resolution of the 58th Session of the U.N. Assembly /RES/58/85, GUAM was granted observer sta-tus in the U.N. General Assembly.
This was the largest GUAM summit in terms of participation. Representatives of 30 states as well as internation-al organizations attended this event.
See: Baku Declaration “GUAM: Bringing Continents Together,” issued at the second meeting of the Council of the Heads of State in Baku, Azerbaijan, 19 June, 2007.
See: “Georgia Outlines Priorities at GUAM Summit,” Civil Ge., 18 June, 2007, available at [www.civil.ge].
Speech by Mr Taro Aso, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the occasion of the Japan Institute of Interna-tional Affairs Seminar, “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity: Japan’s Expanding Diplomatic Horizons,” 30 November, 2006.
ebsite of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan [www.mofa.go.jp].
V. Socor, “GUAM Revival Summit Inconclusive,” Eurasia Daily Monitor, The Jamestown Foundation, Vol. 2,Issue 80, 25 April, 2005.
See: “Saakashvili: GUAM a Vehicle for Baltic-Black Sea Stability, EU Integration,” Civil Ge.,25 March, 2005.
See: Kiev Declaration on the Establishment of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development—
UAM, Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia [www.mfa.gov.ge].
See: “GUAM Gets New Life, New Identity,” EurasiaNet.Org., 24 May, 2006.
One of the most salient examples in support of this argument is the situation concerning the Russian embargo on Georgian wine, mineral water, and agricultural products which left the country without an enormous portion of its export revenue. Georgia continues to struggle to diversify its foreign trade markets.
This refers to a connection to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and a prospective extension eastward to Kazakh-stan and westward to the Polish port of Gdansk.
At an energy summit in Vilnius on 10 October, 2007, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Poland, Lithuania, and Ka-zakhstan signed a joint agreement on setting up a special group to study the technical feasibility of the project.
According to the Georgian Ministry of Defense, the main organizational and legal work on the establishment of a GUAM peacekeeping contingent is coming to an end. Discussions on the composition of the personnel and maintenance of a GUAM peacekeeping contingent are to be completed in the nearest future (source: APA).
See: “GUAM: Test for Ability to Act.”
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