Tashkent meeting of CIS foreign ministers to address key aspects of cooperation in CIS format
MOSCOW. April 6 (Interfax) - The session of the Council of the CIS foreign ministers on April 7 to be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will mull issues covering key areas of the Commonwealth's operations.
"In the course of the session, the foreign ministers will exchange opinions on pressing international and regional problems and the development of cooperation in the format of the Commonwealth and approve documents aimed at strengthening interaction in the law enforcement, cultural and military spheres," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary posted on its website on Thursday.
"As per tradition, cooperation in law enforcement is an important subject regularly considered on the sidelines of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers," it said.
"The meeting is to approve a number of documents aimed at deepening interaction in this field, including draft concepts of cooperation in countering money-laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," the commentary said.
In addition, the meeting will consider "resolutions on amending the statute of the bureau for coordinating resistance to organized crime and other dangerous forms of crime in the territory of the CIS member-states and a protocol on the procedure of the handover of drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, firearms and their main components, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices that constitute material evidence in criminal cases."
"The adoption of these documents stems from the need for a timely response to the advancement of pressing measures for combating the terrorist threat," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The upcoming event will center on the adoption by Commonwealth Foreign Ministers of a joint statement proposed by Russia on the impermissibility of discrimination and intolerance with regard to Christians, Muslims and representatives of other religions, reflecting the CIS countries' general approaches to this problem, which is topical for the international community," it said.
"The ministers will consider information on the procedure of preparing and conducting multitier inter-ministerial consultations in 2016 within the Commonwealth framework in 2016 and approve a corresponding plan for this year," it says.
"Intermediate results of work will be summed up in the context of implementing the September 16, 2016 resolution of the Council of the CIS Heads of State on adapting the Commonwealth to modern realities, which implies a set of measures to strengthen CIS status, increase the efficiency of its bodies and streamline the organization's budget expenses. Specifically, certain aspects of reforming the Economic Court will be considered," the commentary said.
As part of the humanitarian set of issues, the participants will consider a draft resolution on implementing the program 'Cultural Capitals of the Commonwealth' in Armenia in 2018, in Belarus in 2019, and in Kazakhstan in 2020.
"Draft resolutions on main organizations of the CIS member nations will also be submitted to the foreign ministers for approval," it said.
"A draft agreement on mutual legal assistance on administrative issues related to exchanges of personal data, which regulates relevant interaction between federal bodies of justice of the CIS countries, will be considered among other priority issues," it said.
