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CIS summit to adopt statement on combating terrorism

The participants in the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers approved 16 issues, ten of which will be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the CIS Council of the Heads of State

BISHKEK, September 16. /TASS/. A statement on joint efforts to counter terrorism is to be made by the heads of state at the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) summit, head of the CIS Executive Committee, Sergei Lebedev, said following a narrow-format meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers on Friday.

"The ministers approved the agenda and the meeting’s rules of procedure at a narrow-format meeting," Lebedev said.

According to Lebedev, two additional issues were included in the agenda - "on the draft statement on the results of a special session of the UN General Assembly on the global drug problem" and "on a statement of the heads of state on future joint efforts to combat terrorism."

He noted that the participants in the meeting approved the statements of the heads of state in connection with the CIS 25th anniversary, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary since the end of the Nuremberg Trials, on the results of the special session of the UN General Assembly and on future joint efforts to counter terrorism.

"The foreign ministers also approved the draft decision on the adaption of the Commonwealth of Independent to the modern realities," he added. "All the above-mentioned documents will be submitted for consideration by the heads of state."

CIS and its viability

None of the leaders, prime ministers and other official representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member-countries has ever expressed doubt about the need for the CIS existence, Sergei Lebedev said summing up the results of a meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers on Friday.

"All of them fully realize and support the need to preserve and develop the organization," he noted. "Yes, modernization is needed, yes, it is necessary to adapt it to the modern realities. However, no one is talking about the CIS dissolution."

Lebedev added that he is optimistic about the future of the organization. He noted that people in the CIS member-countries are linked by "thousands and even millions of threads", including "historical unity" and "links to relatives." "Now a new factor has emerged, which motivates us to take more vigorous steps in the field of security, namely, international terrorism," Lebedev emphasized. "That is why all those soberly assessing the situation realize the need for the Commonwealth’s existence."

The participants in the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers approved 16 issues, ten of which will be submitted for consideration at the upcoming meeting of the CIS Council of the Heads of State in Bishkek due to be held later in the day.