"GUAM - Integrating Europe's East" summit opening in Batumi

PanARMENIAN.Net - Officials from Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova have begun converging in the Georgian city of Batumi for a two-day GUAM summit starting July 1.



The regional grouping, whose full name is the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development GUAM, was founded in 1997.



This year's summit takes place under the motto: "GUAM - Integrating Europe's East."



For the first time, joint sessions will be held on three issues - economic development, humanitarian aid, and security cooperation.



Participating countries are likely to sign the Batumi declaration, a document that focuses on developing transportation in the region.



Representatives from 25 countries, including Czechia, Poland, Japan and the U.S. are expected to attend the summit.



"Russia dislikes existence of an organization competing with the CIS. Much depends on the decisions to be taken during the summit. GUAM will hardly compete with CIS but the Commonwealth has no future," Georgian expert Josef Tsintsadze said, RFE/RL reports.