Four ex-Soviet states mull new regional force in GUAM union
17/08/2006 13:26 TBILISI, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - Senior officials from four ex-Soviet republics will discuss the formation of a joint military force at closed-doors meeting Thursday in Georgia's capital, a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said
Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova are members of GUAM, an organization originally designed as a political, economic, and strategic alliance to "strengthen the independence of these former Soviet republics" and widely seen as a counterbalance to Russian influence on former allies.
"The meeting of representatives of the GUAM countries is devoted to the further development of military cooperation," Viktor Matko said. "The creation of a joint military force, which will comprise a contingent from each member-state, is being discussed."
The organization was known as GUUAM until Uzbekistan withdrew in May 2005.
On Thursday, the Central Asian state was admitted to another regional group, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which also comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
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