The 18th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) kicks off in Baku today. It is attended by 158 countries and international organizations.
The summit will bring together the heads of state and government of about 60 countries, as well as the heads of international organizations. In particular, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and President of the Presidium of the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly Choe Ryong-hae have already arrived in Baku.
Some 450 journalists, including 250 foreign ones, are accredited to cover the event, which is held at the Baku Convention Center. The summit will last two days – October 25-26.
The heads of state and government posed together for a group photo. The summit observed a minute of silence to commemorate leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement member-states, who passed away this year. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, chairman of the event, delivered the welcoming address in Spanish, thanked Baku for the warm reception and international guests for their participation in the summit.
Then, Maduro passed the chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The Azerbaijani President welcomed the heads of state and government participating in the summit, informed about the current state of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the economic successes of Azerbaijan. Then the final statement of the summit was adopted.
Ilham Aliyev turned the floor over to President of the United Nations General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande. He was followed by a representative of the Group of 77. The formal meeting was concluded by the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov.
For the first time since the 1989 Belgrade Conference, the NAM Summit is being held in Europe.
A preparatory meeting of the high-ranking officials of the participating countries was held on October 21-22. The foreign ministers of the participating countries discussed the preparation for the summit on October 23-24. The chairmanship in the meeting was handed over by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Alberto Arreaza to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the participating countries.
In addition, the Youth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was held in Baku on October 24.
The Non-Aligned Movement was created in 1961. One of the key principles for the establishment and operation of the Non-Aligned Movement is its role as a forum for cooperation among its members. The organization currently has 120 members, 17 observer-states and 10 international observer organizations.
The Non-Aligned Movement is the second biggest organization after the UN. Today, approximately 55% of the world's population lives in the NAM member-states. These countries possess more than 75% of the world’s oil reserves and more than 50% of gas reserves, as well as the biggest human and natural resources.
