GUAM SECRETARIAT DEMARCHE DELIVERED TO AZERBAIJAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000518 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2016 TAGS: PREL KDEM EAID EUN ENRG SNAR PGOV AJ SUBJECT: GUAM SECRETARIAT DEMARCHE DELIVERED TO AZERBAIJAN REF: STATE 36540 Classified By: Ambassador Reno L. Harnish III per 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (SBU) Ambassador delivered ref demarche to Foreign Minister Mammadyarov on March 31. Mammadyarov affirmed Azerbaijan's support for GUAM, telling the Ambassador that the GOAJ wants to see GUAM become a much stronger organization. On the GUAM Information Center, Mammadyarov said that at the GUAM ministerial meeting, member states had decided that each state should pay 25 percent of the Center's operating costs, roughly USD 30,000. However, Ukraine first needed to establish accounts for the GUAM secretariat. In general, Mammadyarov was critical of the Secretariat's effectiveness, noting that Azerbaijan had requested that the current Deputy Secretary General be replaced. Nevertheless, Mammadyarov assured the Ambassador that Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov (who oversees GUAM affairs for the GOAJ) would make sure that Azerbaijan paid its dues. ¶2. (C) Mammadyarov also reported that GUAM was taking a careful look at energy security. The member states are expected to agree on their energy situation at the May 23-24 GUAM Presidential meeting. (President Aliyev separately has told us on several occasions that Azerbaijan is interested in pursuing a new gas pipeline connecting Georgia to Ukraine.) HARNISH