Author: Emil Lazarian

BAKU CONTINUES DISCLOSING DETAILS OF WARSAW MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS
YEREVAN, MAY 21. ARMINFO. The importance of the Warsaw meeting of
the Armenian and Azeri presidents was in its direct relation to the
Karabakh peace process, the Trend news agency reports Azeri Deputy
FM Araz Azimov as saying.
The presidents discussed 7-9 elements concerning the withdrawal
of Armenian troops from “occupied” territories, the return of the
territories, security guarantees, the creation of conditions for the
return of refugees, the clearing and recovery of mined areas. They
also agreed that more delicate political issues can be settled at
later stages.
“We consider that there is clarity on all these directions and
this can be regarded as progress,” says Azimov. He says that the
withdrawal of troops from the NKR controlled territories is the gist
of Azerbaijan’s position. There are also problems of the return of
Azeris to the territories, their co-existence with Armenians and the
resolution of some possible political issues.
Azimov says that all communications including the railroad running
via the NKR controlled territories to Megri (Armenia) and Nakhichevan
must be restored. This meets the interests of not only Armenia and
Azerbaijan but also Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Iran. This road is
part of the regional network – so it must be restored in the framework
of the Karabakh peace process.
Azimov says that the OSCE MG co-chairs are to come to the region
before the meeting of the Azeri and Armenians FMs.-

ILHAM ALIEV: JURISDICTION OF AZERBAIJAN OVER NAGORNY KARABAKH CANNOT BE SUBJECT OF COMPROMISE
YEREVAN, MAY 20. ARMINFO. Jurisdiction of Azerbaijan over Nagorny
Karabakh cannot be a subject of a compromise. As Azeri mass media
informed today, stated Azeri President Ilham Aliev speaking at the
CE summit in Warsaw.
“We cannot make any concessions concerning our territorial integrity.
We are respectful to the territorial integrity of all the world
countries and certainly we want they threat with respect to the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as well”, he stated.
Informing the international community once again about consequences
of both the conflict and the “occupation of 20 percent of Azeri
territories”, Aliev stated that “the CE position on this issues give
big hopes to us” and added that “position of Azerbaijan on Karabakh
conflict peaceful settlement has always based on standards and
principles of the international law”.
“Naturally, we cannot be reconciled in the 21st century with a fact
that one country being a member of the CE occupies the territory of
another member-country. We demand to return our lands and to restore
our territorial integrity”, Aliev stated. At the same time, he noted
the readiness of the Azeri part to compromises.
“We think that our offer to give Armenian people of Nagorny Karabakh
the highest status of autonomy as far as possible is a sufficiently
serious compromise. Besides, we guarantee the safety of each person
living in the region. This offer may be considered as an extremely
important element for the thorough settlement”, Aliev noted. He
expressed an opinion that the conflict settlement may be reached thanks
to the attention of international community to this issue. “We think
useful the peaceful negotiations conducted on presidents’ and foreign
ministers’ level. Azerbaijan is an adherent of conflict’s peaceful
settlement. We think that all the appropriate organizations – the
OSCE Minsk Group, the CE and the EU may pay more attention to this
significant issue. This conflict poses a treat to both the stability
and the development in our region and it is a main obstacle on the
way of our integration to Europe”, Aliev concluded. -r-

IRAN TO HELP AZERBAIJAN IN CASE OF RENEWED AZERI-ARMENIAN CONFLICT: STRATFOR
YEREVAN, MAY 20. ARMINFO. Iran is making a conscious effort to bolster
its military and political standing in the Caspian Sea region, and in
Azerbaijan in particular, says Pentagon’s Stratfor analytical center.
This is an obvious effort not only to carve out strategic space in
the Caspian before Washington can seize it, but also to ward off a
potential U.S. invasion from Azerbaijan. This is the beginning of
what probably will be intensifying competition for control in the
Caspian. On May 16, Iranian media announced that Iranian Defense
Minister Ali Shamkhani and Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev
signed a nonaggression pact in which the two agreed not to allow a
third party to use their territories for an attack against the other.
Tehran’s goal in this pact is obvious — get Baku to prohibit the
United States from using Azerbaijani territory for a potential attack
against Iran.
In recent months, Iran has tried to buy Azerbaijan’s loyalty by
offering political support for Baku’s claims against Armenia over
the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. That political support was
apparently not enough to stop Baku from agreeing to offer Washington
access to military bases on Azerbaijani soil. Iran then had to sweeten
the deal to get what it wanted.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s highly secret surprise visit
to Baku on April 12 to discuss military cooperation between the two
countries undoubtedly flummoxed Tehran. The visit and its secretive
nature might have been news to Iran, but Washington’s increasing
influence in Azerbaijan — and the Caspian Sea region in general —
is not. The United States has several strategic objectives in mind in
becoming the pre-eminent power player in the region, and no Caspian
country stands to lose more from the achievement of those objectives
than Iran. Though the full details of the defense cooperation
agreement the two countries signed have not been made public, it
is very possible that Iran, in return for the nonaggression pact,
offered Azerbaijan military hardware or aid that could come in handy
in renewed conflict with Armenia. Such a move would damage relations
with Armenia, but Iran is an important economic partner for an Armenia
blockaded by both Azerbaijan and Turkey, so Armenia is in no position
to be choosy about its partners.

8TH SESSION OF THE CONGRESS OF WORLD AZERBAIJANIS STARTED IN SWEDEN
[May 21, 2005, 12:48:35]
Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
May 21 2005
As is reported from the State Committee on Work with the Azerbaijanis
Living Abroad, on May 20, 8th session of the Congress of World
Azerbaijanis (CWA) started in the capital of Sweden – Stockholm.
After the national anthems of Azerbaijan and Sweden were performed,
Chairman of the Congress of the World Azerbaijanis Javad Derekhti
in detail informed participants about CWA, has noted value of the
Congress, dwelt on questions subject to discussion, has emphasized
that solidarity of the Azerbaijanis living in the various countries,
represents great value from the point of view of national interests
of Azerbaijan.
Then, Chairman of the State Committee on Work with the Azerbaijanis
Living Abroad Nazim Ibrahimov has read a letter of congratulations
of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev to delegates
of the session.
CWA vice-president R. Shahbazi has told about the acts of genocide made
by the Armenians against Azerbaijanis during the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The representative of Social-Democratic Party of Sweden Veronica Palm
has noted historical-political value of integration of Azerbaijan
to Europe.
The member of the Russian State Duma Victor Cherepkov has emphasized
the important role of the Azerbaijanis living in Russia, in the
political life of his country.
Deputies of Milli Majlis Yagub Mahmudov, Nizami Jafarov, Fazail
Agamali, Gudret Hasanguliyev, Zelimkhan Yagub took part at the session.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

More Countries in Line for U.S. Millennium Challenge Account Aid
USINFO.State.gov
20 May 2005
Secretary Rice names Nicaragua, Cape Verde, Georgia for U.S. funding
Nicaragua, Cape Verde and Georgia are next in line to receive U.S. foreign
aid under a poverty-alleviation program called the Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA), says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Speaking May 20 at a board meeting of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC), Rice said the United States is “moving quickly” to extend the program
into those countries. The MCC is a U.S. government corporation that works
with some of the world’s poorest countries to promote economic growth and
the elimination of extreme poverty; it is responsible for administering the
MCA program.
The MCC later that day approved a five-year, $215 million funding agreement
with the government of Honduras. The compact is designed to reduce poverty
in the Central American nation. (See related article.)
Rice said President Bush’s vision for the MCA program is that U.S. foreign
aid will be provided to those countries that “rule justly, invest in their
own people and encourage economic freedoms” because “global development
should link greater contributions from developed nations to greater
responsibility from developing nations.”
Rice recalled that the MCC in March approved a compact with Madagascar for a
four-year, nearly $110 million program that addresses what she said were two
root causes of poverty in the African country: “a poorly functioning
financial system and a weak land-titling system.”
Rice spoke at the board meeting along with Paul Applegarth, the MCC’s chief
executive officer.
For additional information, see “Millennium Challenge Account.”
Following is a transcript of their remarks:
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
FOR IMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2005
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Board Meeting of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
May 20, 2005
Washington, D.C.
(10:30 a.m. EDT)
SECRETARY RICE: Good morning. Please be seated. Thank you. I’d like to
welcome everyone to this meeting of the Board of Directors of the Millennium
Challenge Corporation. We’ll get all of our fellow Board members in. And I
think I can now state that we have a quorum and this meeting is therefore
called to order.
On behalf of my colleagues on the Board, I would like to start by welcoming
our newest member, Rob Portman. As you know, Ambassador Portman was
recently confirmed by the Senate as the President’s new U.S. Trade
Representative. In addition to becoming a member of the President’s
cabinet, that also makes Rob a member of the MCC Board of Directors. We
look forward to working with you, Rob, and welcome aboard.
AMBASSADOR PORTMAN: Thank you very much, Madame Secretary.
SECRETARY RICE: As many of you are aware, the Board unanimously approved an
MCA compact with the Republic of Madagascar at our meeting on March 14th.
The compact was officially signed on April 18th at a ceremony here at the
State Department, which was attended by a Malagasy delegation led by
President Ravalomanana. The Madagascar compact is a four-year, nearly $110
million program that addresses two root causes of poverty in Madagascar: a
poorly functioning financial system and a weak land-titling system.
President Bush’s vision for the MCC is that development assistance be
provided to those countries that rule justly, invest in their own people and
encourage economic freedoms, and global development should link greater
contributions from developed nations to greater responsibility from
developing nations.
We believe that Madagascar will be helped by this program to carry out that
vision and we congratulate their government and the people of Madagascar for
being the first to reach this important milestone of the signing of a
compact with the MCC.
I’d like to thank the MCC staff for their hard work. I know they are
working long hours and going to great lengths to get these things done and
to get them done fast, and I appreciate their efforts.
I am also pleased to note that the MCC staff are in the later stages of
compact negotiations with a number of other MCA countries. Later this
morning, in fact, we will consider a compact with the Republic of Honduras.
In addition to Honduras, we are moving quickly ahead with several other
countries, including Nicaragua, Cape Verde and Georgia, and we are hopeful
that we will have one or more of these compacts ready for Board
consideration at our June meeting.
We have a lot of work to do so, with that, I’m going to turn this over now
to the MCC’s CEO, Paul Applegarth, to provide a brief update regarding other
activities. Thank you, Paul.
MR. APPLEGARTH: Thank you, Madame Secretary. Good morning, and thank you
all for attending the public session of MCC’s Board meeting today. I am
sure you are eager to learn the outcome of the Board vote on the proposed
MCA compact with the Republic of Honduras and we’ll make that announcement
shortly after the conclusion of today’s meeting.
Because the public portion of our meeting today is so short, we are
following our usual practice of having a longer public meeting after the
Board meeting. I would like to invite you therefore to a public outreach
meeting next Thursday at CSIS where we’ll give you further updates on MCC
activities and discuss the Honduras compact in further detail.
In addition, during that public outreach meeting we will be doing something
a little different by holding a panel discussion on lessons learned so far
from the MCC consultative process. Panelists will include our counterparts
from Honduras and experts from the World Bank, Catholic Relief Services and
CSIS.
I also want to discuss the outlook for future compacts. The hard work of
our partner countries and MCC staff is now coming to fruition. As the
Secretary mentioned, MCC signed a compact with Madagascar last month and we
are looking forward, subject to Board approval, to potentially three more
compacts in the next couple of months.
A number of our threshold partners are also making significant progress and
we hope to approve some of their proposed threshold programs soon.
We are also making steady progress in the allocation and disbursement of
what is called 609(g) funding to several countries. 609(g) funds facilitate
the development and implementation of a proposed compact before it is
signed. In Georgia, we are funding up to $4.155 million for a detailed
engineering, design and environmental study for the proposed
Samtskhe-Javakheti Road.
We have also agreed to allocate 609(g) funds to Nicaragua. This proposal
calls for investing up to 250,000 to expand a major ongoing survey for
baseline data, which is being conducted by the Nicaraguan National Institute
of Statistics and Census, and we’ve added questions relating specifically to
land titling and access to finance.
We’ve also approved 609(g) funding for Ghana and Lesotho.
While any estimate for the balance of the year is necessarily speculative,
it looks as though we will currently exhaust our currently appropriated
funds early in the new year. For those of you who followed my congressional
testimony, proposals from eligible countries are expected to exceed
resources currently available by a billion dollars. This $1 billion
shortfall, combined with the need to fund new lower-income FY 2006 eligible
countries that will be selected in November, plus new threshold program
countries, plus compact amendments, and for the first time lower middle
income countries, shows how important it is that the full — that we are
appropriated the full $3 billion that President Bush has requested for FY
2006.
Remember, these are not just numbers. This is an opportunity to improve the
lives of many poor people in our partner countries and they depend on it.
On another front, the search for an indicator that measures governments’
management of natural resources is also steadily advancing. MCC staff has
been actively working with experts from key institutions and MCC Board
member Christine Todd-Whitman is, as you know, leading this effort. The
Brookings Institution is hosting a conference for us on June 24th, drawing
experts from around the country and the developing world to contribute to
our thinking on an indicator.
Also, our draft environmental guidelines for programs are posted on our
website for public comment until the end of the month. You can find them at
in the guidance section of our website.
Our next Board meeting has not been scheduled yet but we expect to have
another two compacts shortly and much other business to cover.
Thank you for joining us today and I hope to see you next week at the public
outreach meeting.
SECRETARY RICE: Thanks very much, Paul. And I will ask other members of
the Board — I think there is no further business before the Board for this
session so I recommend that we adjourn this opening session of the Board
meeting. May I have a motion?
BOARD MEMBER: So moved.
SECRETARY RICE: Second?
BOARD MEMBER: Second.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Anyone opposed?
(No response.)
SECRETARY RICE: All right. Being no objections noted, this ends this
section of the meeting. Thank you very much.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

L’Armenie amende son Code electoral pour etre aux normes du Conseil de l’Europe
Agence France Presse
19 mai 2005 jeudi 5:47 PM GMT
EREVAN 19 mai 2005
Le Parlement armenien a amende jeudi le Code electoral, afin de se
mettre aux normes de “transparence” exigees par le Conseil de l’Europe,
a annonce l’auteur du projet de loi.
“Les changements apportes a la loi augmenteront le pluralisme dans le
pays et assureront la transparence dans la formation de la Commission
electorale”, a declare le president de la commission parlementaire
chargee de la Defense, Mgr Chakhgueldian, auteur du projet de loi.
Celui-ci a ete elabore a partir de propositions d’experts europeens,
et est cense repondre aux exigences du Conseil de l’Europe, a-t-il
fait valoir.
Avec ces modifications, le scrutin a la proportionnelle (par parti)
est renforce – avec 90 places du Parlement attribuees selon ce mode
de scrutin contre 75 auparavant – et le scrutin uninominal recule,
avec seulement 41 elus selon ce système, contre 56 actuellement, ce
qui est cense jouer en faveur du pluralisme, selon l’auteur du projet.
Le nombre de sièges passe de 131 a 121, et le Parlement est elu pour
cinq ans au lieu de quatre actuellement.
De plus, le president, qui nommait jusqu’ici trois membres de
la commission electorale, n’est plus autorise qu’a en nommer un
seul, ce qui renforce la “transparence” de la commission, selon M.
Chakhgueldian.
Des elections parlementaires sont prevues en 2007 dans ce pays
du Caucase.
–Boundary_(ID_Zd0p9aOicJ2PDkz+msB7Hg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Coup plot Briton faces Guinea jail
By David Blair in Johannesburg
Daily Telegraph/UK
(Filed: 21/05/2005)
Simon Mann, the former SAS officer accused of planning a failed coup
in west Africa, faced the revenge of his alleged target yesterday
when Equatorial Guinea’s regime formally applied for his extradition.
If this succeeds, Mann will leave Zimbabwe, where he is serving a
reduced, four year sentence in relatively benign conditions, for
Black Beach prison in Equatorial Guinea.
Here, Amnesty International says that prisoners are in danger of
starving to death. They survive on daily rations recently reduced from
a cup of rice to one or two bread rolls. Since February, inmates at
Black Beach have routinely gone without food for up to six days at
a time.
But Zimbabwe said there was no legal barrier to extraditing Mann,
an Old Etonian and former member of the SAS.
“The process of extradition follows set procedures in domestic and
international law and if it follows those procedures, it is possible
in this case. In principle, it can be done,” said Sobuza Gula-Ndebele,
Zimbabwe’s attorney general.
Mann, who holds British and South African citizenship, was arrested at
Harare airport last March, along with 69 other alleged mercenaries. The
men were on board a Boeing 727, supposedly bound for Equatorial Guinea
where they would have overthrown the oil-rich dictatorship of President
Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
Mann, 51, was convicted for trying to buy “weapons of war” and
consigned to Chikurubi maximum security jail outside Harare. But he
has been spared the worst of African prison life.
Mann inhabits a single cell and his lawyers have been allowed to
supply him with books and food during their unrestricted visits.
Zimbabwe knocked three years off his initial, seven-year sentence.
The other alleged mercenaries arrested with Mann were released last
week after being convicted of lesser offences.
Equatorial Guinea, by contrast, conducted a sweep of its capital,
Malabo, and rounded up 14 men, all South Africans or Armenians. They
were convicted for being the alleged coup’s advance party of
mercenaries. Nick du Toit, a former soldier in South Africa’s special
forces, received a 34-year sentence on the strength of confessions
which he says were extracted under torture.
He is now in Black Beach prison where, if the extradition succeeds,
Mann will join him. Last month, Amnesty protested about the treatment
of Black Beach’s inmates. “Many are extremely weak because of torture
or ill-treatment and because of chronic illnesses,” said Kolawole
Olaniyan, the director of Amnesty’s Africa programme. “Unless immediate
action is taken, many of those detained there will die.”
Zimbabwe has no formal extradition treaty with Equatorial Guinea. But
Mr Gula-Ndebele said it was on a list of “designated countries” to
which Zimbabwe was willing to transfer prisoners. Equatorial Guinea
was added last year, within weeks of Mann’s arrest.
[email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Friday’s European Judo Championship Results
AP Worldstream
May 20, 2005
Friday’s results at the European Judo Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands:
Men
60Kg
Bronze medal Contest 1
Ruben Houkes, Netherlands, def. Cedric Taymans, Belgium, yuko.
Bronze Medal Contest 2
Lavrentis Alexanidis, Greece, def. Nijat Shikhalizade, Azerbaijan, waza-ari.
Gold Medal Contest
Armen Nazaryan, Armenia, def. Ludwig Paischer, Austria, ippon.
Men
66Kg
Bronze Medal Contest 1
Benjamin Darbelet, France, def. David Margoshvili, Georgia, yuko.
Bronze Medal Contest 2
Shlyk Aliaksandr, Belarus, def. Marcel Trudov, Moldova, yuko.
Gold Medal Contest
Elchin Ismaylov, Azerbaijan, def. Miklos Ungvari, Hungary, ippon.
Women
48Kg
Bronze Medal Contest 1
Nese Sensoy Yildiz, Turkey, def. Ann Simons, Belgium, ippon.
Bronze Medal Contest 2
Tatiana Moskvina, Belarus, def. Maria Karagiannopoulou, Greece, waza-ari.
Gold medal Contest
Alina Alexandra Dumitru, Romania, def. Frederique Jossinet, France, ippon.
Women
52Kg
Bronze Medal Contest 1
Telma Montero, Portugal, def. Natasja van Gurp, Netherlands, ippon.
Bronze Medal Contest 2
Petra Nareks, Slovenia, def. Jaana Sundberg, Finland, ippon.
Gold Medal Contest
Ilse Heijlen, Belgium, def. Ioana-Maria Aluas Dinea, Romania, koka.
Women
57Kg
Bronze Medal Contest 1
Isabel Fernandez, Spain, def. Loulietta Boukouvala, Greece, koka.
Bronze Medal Contest 2
Sabina Filzmoser, Austria, def. Fanny Riaboff, France, waza-ari.
Gold Medal Contest
Olga Sonina, Russia, def. Sophie Cox, Great Britain, ippon.

NEWS RELEASE
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
MARSHALL BAGHRAMIAN STREET 18
YEREVAN, ARMENIA
TELEPHONE (+374 1) 52 78 71; 52 16 11; 52 46 61
FAX (+374 1) 52 08 00
E-MAIL: [email protected]
May 18, 2005
Export Control And Related Border Security
Today, May 18,2005, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, through its Export
Control and Related Border Security Assistance Program (EXBS), will
grant to the GOAM Border Guards and National Security Service, a new
state of the art checkpoint facility at the Bagratashen border with
Georgia . U.S. Ambassador John M. Evans will officially transfer
the newly built and equipped facility to Deputy Foreign Minister
Aram Kirakossian.
The U.S. Government invested over $200,000 dollars to provide the
Armenian government with a modern checkpoint facility been outfitted
with several computers and monitoring systems to track the movement
of goods and people at the busy border crossing. In the near future,
EXBS plans to grant and install radiation detection and monitoring
equipment to help guard against the illegal transport of dangerous
materials that could be used in weapons of mass destruction.
The Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance Program,
administered by the Department of State and the US Homeland Security
Agency, has been operating in Armenia since the year 2000. The EXBS
Program currently operates in more than 27 countries, and is designed
to strengthen and secure national borders by providing the latest
in interdiction equipment, and by developing the enforcement skills
of both the Border Guards and Customs Service in the fight against
worldwide terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and chemical and
biological warfare agents.
The EXBS Program for Armenia continues to conduct formal training
seminars both locally and in the United States in order to provide
Border Guards and Customs Inspectors with the advanced techniques of
investigation necessary to identify sophisticated nuclear, chemical
and biological weapons.
Over the last several years the EXBS Assistance Program has equipped
the Border Guards and Customs Services of Armenia with various types
of inspection and detection equipment: a radio-communication system,
several types of border sensors, metal detectors, vehicles, computer
equipment, cargo truck scales, and X-ray units. Last year,in addition
to the project at Bagratashen, the EXBS Assistance Program provided
construction funding to upgrade the Border Guards barracks at the
Gogavan Port of Entry, and both Border Guard and Customs training
facilities in Yerevan.

RUSSIA SHOULD KNOW PUBLIC OPINION BEFORE DEPLOYING NEW MILITARY BASES TO ARMENIA
2005-05-20 18:39
Azerbaijan News Service
May 20 2005
Official Baku is very concerned over recent statement of Yuriy
Baluyevskiy, head of the Joint Staff of Russian Federation regarding
the transfer of parts of military bases currently deploying in Georgia
to Armenia. According to Araz Azimov, deputy foreign minister of
Azerbaijan Russia made such steps previously and new actions are
unwelcome by Baku. Our concern is based on necessity of the account
of the extremely sensitive situation for region and atmospheres of
regional safety and stability, he noted. Deputy foreign minister
said that before redirection of those bases they must study what
would be public reaction. Thus, in present conditions it would be
more desirable, that the given step was not undertaken “, – he has
emphasized. Armenia is a source of destabilization in south Caucasus,
said Araz Azimov deputy foreign minister of Azerbaijan during an
international conference of NATO launched in Baku. While Azerbaijan
makes important contribution for regional development of energy
resources export and Georgia introducing transit opportunities,
Armenia exporting non stability said Araz Azimov. Deputy foreign
minister said that by aggressive policy lead by Armenia that country
isolated herself from participating global regional processes and
attitude of Euraaatlantic structures to Armenia must be different that
to Azerbaijan and Georgia. He also said that, Russia’s policy in South
Caucasus not always positively affecting the regional situation. I
think that, strengthening of cooperation between NATO and Russia can
lead geopolitical changes in the region, Araz Azimov said. Delegates
from Unites States of America, Romania, Georgia, Russia and other
countries take part in the conference.