GUUAM ECLIPSING THE CIS ON THE EVE OF SUMMIT

In advance of the December 1 summit in Minsk of the CIS, the pro-Western GUUAM countries–Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova–are acting as a group outside the CIS to protect their imperiled independence. GUUAM’s coordinated policy was especially in evidence at the annual OSCE ministerial conference in Vienna on the level of foreign affairs ministers. For the first time at a major international conference, the GUUAM countries’ ministers held a conference of their own, issued a joint position statement to resist Russia’s purposes regarding their countries, and met as a group with the U.S. secretary of state.