The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill to ratify the Convention of the Member States of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM) on Mutual Assistance in Consular Matters, which was signed in New York on September 20, 2022, IPN reports.

The bill was drafted following the initiative to review the Convention signed in Yalta on June 7, 2001. “Given that the Republic of Uzbekistan unilaterally denounced the Convention of 2001, the Secretariat proposed that the member states of the current format of GUAM - Georgia, Ukraine, the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Moldova should sign a new Convention,” says the bill. The new Convention was signed in New York on September 20, 2022 by Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

According to the Deputy Premier, the Convention provides that the Parties, by mutual agreement in each specific case, shall render each other mutual assistance regarding protection of the rights and interests of nationals of the Parties in third States, by the latter’s consent, in cases where one of the Parties has no diplomatic representations and consular offices in such States. This assistance shall be rendered within the scope of competence of diplomatic representations and consular offices.

“In this connection, I want to note that Ukraine has the most developed network of diplomatic missions, of over 100 missions. Georgia and Azerbaijan have over 60 diplomatic missions and consular offices each. As a result of the ratification of this Convention, our citizens will be able to benefit from consular assistance from this large number of diplomatic missions and consular offices if they are in difficulty and need assistance,” stated Nicu Popescu.

The bill is to be debated and adopted by Parliament.