Coordinating foreign policy matters to help promote the Region’s development, and ensuring that the Caribbean remains a Zone of Peace are underpinning discussions at a two-day Meeting of CARICOM Foreign Ministers which opened in St Georges, Grenada, Monday.

Grenada’s Foreign Minister, the Honourable Peter David is chairing this Twenty-Second Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), which is also deliberating on CARICOM relations with the European Union, particularly the Post-Cotonou negotiations between the EU and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, and the United Kingdom’s exist from the EU.

Guyana is being represented at the meeting by newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings. As Bahamas’ Foreign Minister, Darren Henfield handed over the Chairmanship of COFCOR to Grenada, he cautioned that “our bonds, though tested, must always remain strong.”

He pointed to the recent traction gained through cooperation with, among others, Romania and the United States, aimed at building resilience, including financial resilience. The financial services sector, he noted, was being “severely impacted” by what he described as the “unfair and unwarranted pressure” from mechanisms proposed by the European Commission and other developed countries to regulate the sector.

CARICOM, he said, was heartened by Romania’s commitment that during its presidency of the European Union (EU), it will advocate and facilitate discussions on blacklisting of CARICOM countries by several EU member states. CARICOM must still continue to address this issue, he said, noting that the Region is looking forward to discussions later this month in Germany.

The incoming Chairman, Minister David, in acknowledging the recent very challenging period that witnessed escalating regional political and social tensions and adverse security concerns which demanded keen analyses and prudent decision-making, said:
“Grenada assumes the mantle and will work assiduously to ensure that gains are cemented, that the fundamental principles of the Community are espoused in all undertakings, and that we coordinate all policy efforts to the benefit of all Community Member States and to ensure that the Region remains a Zone of Peace through meaningful dialogue.”

In his remarks, CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque said co-operation with the US, the UK, Canada, Spain, Germany and Italy, to mention but a few, continue to make valuable contributions to the well-being of the people of the Community.
He too recognised the “great challenges” facing the hemisphere.

“The ongoing political situation in Venezuela is worrisome and requires an urgent and concerted response from all actors,” he said, adding that CARICOM is being guided by: “…principles of non-interference and non-intervention in the affairs of states, prohibition of the threat or use of force, respect for sovereignty, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for the constitutional framework, human rights and democracy.”

Ambassador LaRocque told the Foreign Ministers that as they coordinate the Community’s position going forward, they must be cognizant that the Community faced a world where major actors show a decreased interest in a collective approach to global problems. “CARICOM, as small states, must therefore rely more than ever on focused and coordinated diplomacy, bolster its relations with like-minded states and continue to advocate for multilateralism,” Secretary-General LaRocque stated.

The Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) consists of Ministers responsible for the Foreign Affairs of CARICOM Member States. Among the Council’s main objectives, it aims to coordinate the foreign policies of the Member States of the Community and seeks to ensure the adoption of Community positions on major hemispheric and international issues. Additionally, the council determines relations between CARICOM and international organisations and third states, respectively. The two-day meeting will wrap up today.

Minister Cummings, former Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, has replaced Carl Greenidge, who was among four Government Ministers who resigned due to having dual citizenship in the Parliament of Guyana.