DUSHANBE, April 5, 2014, Asia-Plus – A meeting of the CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council that took place in Moscow on April 4 reportedly discussed approved 20 documents on different activities of the CIS member-states in various areas.
Russian media sources quoted the Russian Foreign ministry as saying that the CIS foreign ministers agreed a number of draft statements and resolutions geared to promote closer cooperation between the CIS member nations in various areas.
According to Itar-Tass, the ministers agreed a draft statement on preserving and strengthening the international drug control system. The document will be submitted to the CIS heads of states. The Council also supported a draft resolution on providing aid to Tajikistan to help it build up border security measure along the border with Afghanistan.
Attention was traditionally focused on the humanitarian component of the multi-lateral cooperation. The CIS foreign ministers approved a number of important documents geared to promote the development of ties in the areas of education, healthcare, physical culture and sport.
Apart from that, the Council discussed draft documents aiming to improve collective response to natural and anthropogenic emergency situations, to promote partnership in the law enforcement and military spheres. Thus, the CIS foreign ministers discussed the issue of the establishment of a reserve fund for aiding countries hit by natural and anthropogenic calamities. They reportedly also discussed draft agreements on cooperation between engineering troops in demining activities, and on cooperation in the area of survey and navigation support of armed forces of the CIS member countries.
The CIS foreign ministers took a decision to hand over presidency in the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2014 to Belarus.
The ministers exchanged views on the most pressing problems of international and regional security, on issues of the foreign policy coordination within the Commonwealth of Independent States and cooperation in the framework of international organizations, including the United Nations Organization and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and on the situation in Ukraine.
The Council of Foreign Minister of the CIS Member Nations is the main executive body ensuring cooperation in the field of foreign policy activities of the CIS member states on the matters of mutual interest, adopting decisions during the period between the meetings of the Council of the CIS Heads of State, the Council of the CIS Heads of Government and by their orders. The first session of the Council took place in August 1993.
Established on December 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization. It now consists of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Georgia pulled out of the organization in 2009.
