Q: Sessions of the top statutory CIS bodies are scheduled to take place on October 6-7 in Chisinau. What issues top the agenda?

A: The sessions will focus on the issues of increasing the efficiency of CIS bodies and their streamlining. We suppose that Russia's approach to make the streamlining of the CIS bodies evolutionary and arrange them according to the priorities and actual contents of multilateral cooperation enlists support of the absolute majority of the CIS member-states.

Emphasis is laid on such basic issues as war on terrorism, drug trafficking and crime. Russia believes that streamlining will entail cuts in the CIS bodies staff.

The celebration of the 60th anniversary of World War II will also be on the agenda.

The issue of the joint counteraction of the CIS countries against challenges and security threats will be high on the agenda. The countries are expected to exchange opinions on the key international issues, including the course of the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan and the development of the situation around Iraq and in the Middle East.

In the course of the sessions the countries are expected to adopt the Interstate program of joint measures to combat crime for 2003-2004, the Cooperation conception to act against illegal dealing in drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, the Program on improving cooperation in the frontier sphere, to adopt a Resolution establishing a regional department of the CIS member-states antiterrorist center in Central Asia.

Q: What are the priorities in the cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States?

A: Measures to enhance the effectiveness of CIS resolutions are expected to be taken. We plan to step up the monitoring of the compliance with the adopted resolutions on the part of the Council of Heads of State, the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Economic Council. We are expanding the powers of the Council of the permanent representatives of the CIS member-states.

Following the aforementioned pattern we also expect to analyze the activity of CIS branch bodies, increase their efficiency and streamline them.


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© Publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

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