On April 2, a regular meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will take place in Moscow. The Council is a main executive body that coordinates foreign policy activities of the member-states, including their activities through international organizations and holds consultations on issues of global policy of mutual interest in accordance with decisions of the Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of Government.     

On Friday, March 26, the TASS news agency reported on a press briefing by Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova, at which the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers was announced. 

According to the diplomat, the meeting agenda includes issues that cover the main areas of interaction between the CIS member-states. “The parties will exchange views on key regional and international issues and discuss prospects for deeper multifaceted cooperation within the Commonwealth, including in law enforcement and the humanitarian field”, Zakharova was quoted as saying.  

In particular, the Ministers will review the Action Program aimed to step up the partnership between the Foreign Ministries of the CIS member-states and the Plan of multi-level ministerial consultations for 2020, and will discuss further steps towards consolidating the Commonwealth’s positions in the global arena.  

Zakharova noted that the Foreign Ministers will consider a draft appeal by the heads of state of the CIS countries to the nations and the international community as 2021 marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War.  In accordance with standard practice, a number of draft documents adopted at the meeting will be submitted for approval by the CIS Council of Heads of Government in Minsk on May 28, 2021 and the CIS Council of Heads of State in Minsk on October 15, 2021 as Belarus holds the chairmanship of the CIS this year.   

The Council of Foreign Ministers meeting will also focus on issues of regional and international security, multilateral cooperation, including in tourism, sports and youth policy. The Turkmen side plans to submit a number of documents for consideration by the meeting participants.   

They will help to facilitate the implementation of the Joint Strategy of the Commonwealth. A significant contribution was made to developing the Strategy during Turkmenistan’s chairmanship of the CIS in 2019. Speaking at the CIS Council of Heads of Government meeting in Ashgabat, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov proved the need to take a comprehensive approach to the interaction and bring the CIS member-countries’ potential together.    

Regarding that the logic behind modern global development requires a strategic vision of the Commonwealth’s prospects and its clearly defined role as a large economic entity capable of implementing large-scale projects within the CIS and neighboring regions, Turkmenistan has been steadily promoting the CIS member-states’ participation in massive transport, energy and communications projects on the continent. 

During Turkmenistan’s chairmanship, a decision was made to launch a new sporting project in the Commonwealth unprecedented in its scale. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Games are planned to feature Olympic sports, as well as non-Olympic and national sports popular in the CIS member-states. The project aims to encourage the participation of athletes, trainers and other specialists in international competitions, to broaden their experience, and to popularize national sports of the CIS member-states internationally.      

The biennial Games will be hosted by CIS member-states on a rotational basis and will last up to 10 days. The new format of the Games also envisions cultural and scientific-practical events devoted to issues of physical activity and sports. 

The first CIS Games were due to take place in Kazan on August 20-27, 2020, but were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic and later rescheduled for September, 2021. In late 2020, the CIS Council for Physical Culture and Sports approved the new schedule for the Games that will take place in Kazan on September 4-11. Athletes aged 14-23 will compete in 21 sports at the first-ever CIS Games. 

Ogulgozel REJEPOVA