The United States welcomes you to the Permanent Council, Secretary General Valeri Chechelashvili, and we thank you for your presentation today. The United States is a strong supporter of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM — and the valuable work of the Organization in promoting deeper economic links among its member states of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova.
GUAM’s stated goals – which include promoting democratic values, rule of law, and respect for human rights, strengthening regional stability, and encouraging European integration – are the same ones that the United States supports in our bilateral relationship with each GUAM member state.
The United States is deeply concerned by the active and protracted conflicts affecting the GUAM region. We are deeply concerned by continuing violations of GUAM member states’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. The United States continues to support the right of all sovereign states to determine their own future without interference by others.
The ongoing violence in Ukraine at the hands of Russia-supported separatists, rising tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the protracted conflicts in Georgia and Moldova make clear the urgent need for progress toward peaceful settlements. The OSCE is playing a valuable role in facilitating a resolution to each of these conflicts, and we encourage participating States to continue to make conflict settlement in the GUAM region — based on the norms and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and commitments under the fundamental documents of the OSCE — a priority for this Organization.
The United States welcomes GUAM’s efforts to increase stability and prosperity and to deepen integration in the Black Sea – Caspian Sea region and applauds its initiatives to establish international transport corridors, fight cross-border and organized crime, and combat threats to cyber security. We also attach great importance to GUAM’s cooperation with the OSCE, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Secretary General Chechelashvili, we wish you and your Organization much success.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As delivered by Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Kate Byrnes to the Permanent Council, Vienna
