"Frankly speaking, I'm surprised by the wording of the Uzbek colleagues saying that Uzbekistan bows out from GUUAM because it is acquiring a political aspect", Nino Burdzhanadze said.
To her, "an organization without a political content should not exist and staying within it is nonsensical".
"Desirably, Uzbekistan should be within the GUUAM but love cannot be compelled", Nino Burdzhanadze said to journalists in Tbilisi.
Uzbekistan's withdrawal did not come as a surprise to her because it has not been involved in the GUUAM activities during the last 1.5 to two years.
Yesterday, Moldova as the chair country of the GUAAM regional unit got from Uzbekistan the official notification of withdrawal.
The GUUAM was set up in 1997 by Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. In 1999 Uzbekistan joined in. Initially, the GUUAM was unofficially thought to be an alternative to the Commonwealth of Independent States.
