OREANDA-NEWS. March 31, 2010.  The Council of Foreign Ministers of the member states of the Commonwealth held a regular meeting in Moscow on March 26, 2010. It was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation as the country presiding over the CIS this year. They discussed various aspects of the development of cooperation among the countries within the CIS, and topical issues in international politics. In particular, the ministers adopted decisions in support of Russia’s initiative for a Collective Security Treaty and of Kazakhstan’s current chairmanship of the OSCE.

Special emphasis was placed on the key theme of the Russian chairmanship – the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945. The ministers endorsed the draft of a Message of the CIS Heads of State to the frontline veterans and home front workers of the member states of the Commonwealth on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, which is planned to be adopted at an informal summit of the Commonwealth in Moscow on May 8.

They took decision to conduct in the educational institutions of the CIS countries, starting in 2010, on a regular basis a unified lesson (day) dedicated to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

The ministers discussed practical matters relating to the development of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere and in the fields of border security and migration policy.

The CFM took decision to recommend that the Heads of State declare 2011 as Year of the Historical and Cultural Legacy and 2012 as Year of Sport and Healthy Lifestyle in the CIS.

A number of draft documents included in the CFM agenda were aimed at strengthening the cooperation of law enforcement agencies in combating crime.

The sides reviewed progress in carrying out the Plan of Principal Measures to implement the CIS Further Development Concept, adopted in 2007, and exchanged views regarding the possibility of having it updated. They discussed the CIS work experience in the area of election monitoring in the states of the Commonwealth, and a plan of activities to mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of the CIS in December 2011, which after refinement will be submitted for consideration by the CIS Council of Heads of Government in May.

A number of questions of a protocol and organizational character were also considered, including the preparation of the upcoming meetings of the Councils of Heads of State and Government.