GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development

GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development Организация за демократию и экономическое развитие — ГУАМ
Logo
Locations of GUAM member states (orange) and observers (green) in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
Headquarters	Kiev, Ukraine
Official language	Russian,English
Member states	Georgia  Ukraine  Azerbaijan  Moldova
Leaders
• Secretary General	Altai Efendiev
Establishment
• Consultative forum	10 October 1997
• GUUAM	1999
• Charter signed	June 2001
Area
• Total	810,506 km2 (312,938 sq mi)
Population
• 2014 estimate	62,140,327
GDP (PPP)	2004 estimate
• Total	456,173
• Per capita	7,154
Website guam-organization.org

The GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (Russian: Организация за демократию и экономическое развитие — ГУАМ) is a regional organization of four post-Soviet states: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova.

GUAM's charter was signed during a summit in Yalta on 6 to 7 June 2001 by the four current members and Uzbekistan, which later withdrew. According to the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko the charter set objectives for cooperation, such as promoting democratic values, ensuring stable development, enhancing international and regional security and stepping up European integration. Moldova's 2000 elections were won by the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova who subsequently realigned their foreign policy towards Europe shortly before the parliamentary election held in March 2005.

In June 2007, GUAM nations agreed to form a 500-personnel joint peacekeeping force to battle separatism.

Given the existence of the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), GUAM is sometimes seen in Russia as a way of countering the Russian influence in the area and as part of a strategy backed by the United States. However, GUAM leaders repeatedly and officially dismiss such claims and declare their strong willingness to develop close friendly relations with Russia. Moreover, Azerbaijan, the group's main energy power, has managed to avoid any conflicts with Russia in recent years.

Although the largest portion of GUAM population is Ukrainians (71.3% as of 2014), the Ukrainian language is not an official among GUAM participants. Russians are the second biggest national community of the organization. In 2014, the group moved to use English instead of Russian as a working language at its meetings.