BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/11/2006

CIS summit opens in Minsk

Victor Yushchenko is in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, for a heads of state summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), according to the President`s press-office.

He is now meeting with his colleagues and will later attend a meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council, which will take place in the National Library of Belarus.

The presidents are going to consider seven documents. Three of them were proposed by Ukraine to fight illegal migration, create a free trade area and introduce special (protective) mechanisms of trade, and legally register state borders within the CIS.

On November 17, Mr. Yushchenko told members of the National Security and Defense Council Ukraine's interest in projects with its CIS neighbors directly depended on reforms within the alliance. He said the CIS should address and resolve economic, social and humanitarian problems, especially in the area of international contacts. He added that Ukraine's participation in CIS projects should not contradict and slow down the pace of the country's Euro-Atlantic integration.

President Ilham Aliyev (Azerbaijan), President Alexander Lukashenko (Belarus), President Robert Kocharyan (Armenia), President Mikhail Saakashvili (Georgia), President Nursultan Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan), President Kurmanbek Bakiyev (Kyrgyzstan), President Vladimir Voronin (Moldova), President Vladimir Putin (Russia), President Emomali Rakhmonov (Tajikistan), President Islam Karimov (Uzbekistan), Deputy Prime Minister Gurbanguly Burdy Mukhammedov (Turkmenistan) and CIS Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushailo are present at the summit.

Source:

http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-174879.html