GUUAM Summit Postponed

The Georgian Foreign Ministry announced on June 8 that the summit of the leaders of the GUUAM member states ? Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova, will be postponed to an indefinite date.

The summit was originally scheduled for June 15 in the capital of Georgia?s Adjarian Autonomous Republic, Batumi.

Earlier in June, however, Moldova proposed that the GUUAM summit in Batumi be relocated. The Moldovan government submitted a location change proposal, owing to ?the tense situation? in Adjara.

Georgian authorities decided to hold the GUUAM summit in Batumi, in the wake of ex-Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze’s ousting in early May, to help exemplify the success of peaceful power transitions in the region.

GUUAM was set up in 1997 by Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova to boost regional cooperation in humanitarian activities, development of Eurasian transport and energy projects, and conflict resolution. Uzbekistan joined the group in 1999.