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13808
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 20:06
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Russia FM to discuss in Dushanbe preparations for SCO summit
DUSHANBE, July 25 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss in Dushanbe on Friday preparations for a meeting of the Council of the Heads of States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) due on August 28 and lifting a moratorium on the expansion of the organisation. He arrived here from Singapore on Thursday. The Tajikistani capital is the last leg of the Asian tour of the Russian minister. He will attend there a meeting of the Council of SCO Foreign Ministers.
"The ministers will consider draft documents and decisions brought for the Dushanbe summit meeting," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said. "The main document of the SCO summit will be the Dushanbe Declaration that will reflect the views on the role and place of SCO in the modern international architecture and in the Central Asian region," the diplomat indicated.
"The SCO ministerial meeting participants will also discuss issues of international contacts and expansion of the organisation, proceeding from the principle of SCO openness for a wide mutually advantageous cooperation with interested states and interstate structures," the spokesman said. "They will analyse the state of affairs regarding involvement of observer states in interaction within the SCO framework, as well as progress of the fulfilment of the Tashkent initiative of 2004 on the creation of the partnership network of multilateral unions in the Asia-Pacific region," henoted.
Informed sources told Itar-Tass that "for the first time the meeting will be held in two formats: the narrow (six ministers of SCO countries) and enlarged (with the ministers of observer countries and invited)." "From August 29 Russia will become the SCO president," the sourcesaid. "An annual plan has already been prepared, Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko heads the organising committee. The first event - an antiterrorist exercise at which methods of combating terrorism in the territory of a chemical enterprise will be practiced," according to the official.
"One of the subjects for discussion at the meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers' Council in Dushanbe will be a possibility of lifting a moratorium on the admission of new members," the source stressed. "It is necessary to analyse the situation. If a decision on the expansion of the organisation is made unanimously, we will start preparations of the corresponding mechanism, because it does not exist," he added. "It is difficult to determine the criteria according to which new member countries will be admitted to the organisation, and also there is no clear-cut notion what the SCO region is," the source explained. "Probably an expert group will be formed that will be engaged in the analysis of the situation," he added.
"Applications from countries on the issue of interaction with the SCO, in particular, in the sphere of combating drug trafficking, are still being submitted," the source pointed out. "The EU and certain UN structures have displayed an interest in working in coordination," hestated. The SCO states' foreign ministers will discuss matters elated to Afghanistan. "Everybody realises the difficulty of the drug trafficking problem from this country and the importance of its settlement for Central Asia. Russia, for instance, has proposed to introduce financial security belts," he said.
At the same time the source noted that "there are problems with the financing of SCO, therefore the issue of the creation of the CSO Fund, from which money will be taken for the implementation of projects pursued by the organisation, is under discussion."In Dushanbe the ministers will discuss possible cooperation between the SCO states and the non-affiliated SCO states. "Through this new procedure the SCO states will broaden their foreign ties, all countries and organisations, which are willing to join SCO projects, will be able to involve in them thanks to this procedure," a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The ministers will consider draft documents and decisions brought for the Dushanbe summit meeting," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said. "The main document of the SCO summit will be the Dushanbe Declaration that will reflect the views on the role and place of SCO in the modern international architecture and in the Central Asian region," the diplomat indicated.
"The SCO ministerial meeting participants will also discuss issues of international contacts and expansion of the organisation, proceeding from the principle of SCO openness for a wide mutually advantageous cooperation with interested states and interstate structures," the spokesman said. "They will analyse the state of affairs regarding involvement of observer states in interaction within the SCO framework, as well as progress of the fulfilment of the Tashkent initiative of 2004 on the creation of the partnership network of multilateral unions in the Asia-Pacific region," henoted.
Informed sources told Itar-Tass that "for the first time the meeting will be held in two formats: the narrow (six ministers of SCO countries) and enlarged (with the ministers of observer countries and invited)." "From August 29 Russia will become the SCO president," the sourcesaid. "An annual plan has already been prepared, Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko heads the organising committee. The first event - an antiterrorist exercise at which methods of combating terrorism in the territory of a chemical enterprise will be practiced," according to the official.
"One of the subjects for discussion at the meeting of the SCO Foreign Ministers' Council in Dushanbe will be a possibility of lifting a moratorium on the admission of new members," the source stressed. "It is necessary to analyse the situation. If a decision on the expansion of the organisation is made unanimously, we will start preparations of the corresponding mechanism, because it does not exist," he added. "It is difficult to determine the criteria according to which new member countries will be admitted to the organisation, and also there is no clear-cut notion what the SCO region is," the source explained. "Probably an expert group will be formed that will be engaged in the analysis of the situation," he added.
"Applications from countries on the issue of interaction with the SCO, in particular, in the sphere of combating drug trafficking, are still being submitted," the source pointed out. "The EU and certain UN structures have displayed an interest in working in coordination," hestated. The SCO states' foreign ministers will discuss matters elated to Afghanistan. "Everybody realises the difficulty of the drug trafficking problem from this country and the importance of its settlement for Central Asia. Russia, for instance, has proposed to introduce financial security belts," he said.
At the same time the source noted that "there are problems with the financing of SCO, therefore the issue of the creation of the CSO Fund, from which money will be taken for the implementation of projects pursued by the organisation, is under discussion."In Dushanbe the ministers will discuss possible cooperation between the SCO states and the non-affiliated SCO states. "Through this new procedure the SCO states will broaden their foreign ties, all countries and organisations, which are willing to join SCO projects, will be able to involve in them thanks to this procedure," a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
