The Council Of The CIS Foreign Ministers Has Met In Moscow

The Foreign Ministers of the CIS member-countries gathered on Thursday in Moscow for a session of the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to sum up the results of the first decade of its existence. The ministers are discussing the draft agendas of the coming sessions of the Council of the Heads of Government and the Council of the Heads of State of the CIS member-countries, as well as the plan of measures to increase the efficiency of coordinating the foreign-policy activity of the Commonwealth's countries. They will also consider joint anti-terrorist measures in the CIS. Another item on the agenda is the draft statement by the heads of the CIS member-countries on the situation concerning Afghanistan which has been included by the Russian Federation. The CIS Foreign Ministers will also discuss the question about the commander of the peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone in Abkhazia /Georgia/ and will sum up the results of the work of the observers from the CIS during the recent presidential elections in Byelorussia. Preparations for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War /Second World War/ will also be discussed by the CIS Foreign Ministers. The ministers will consider the draft agreement on the formation of the Council of the Chairmen of Higher Arbitration, Economic and Other Courts which are settling disputes in the economic sphere. Other items on the session's agenda are: plan to form a legal and contractual basis of cooperation within the framework of the CIS, including the draft agreement on the protection of the participants in criminal trials. It is expected that the ministers will touch upon also the question of holding in Moscow the International Sport Youth Games of the Commonwealth and the countries of Baltia, and will consider the draft decision on the honorary Badge of the CIS.