MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE LEAVING CIS

President Vladimir Voronin said on May 23 that Moldova's parliament will debate a proposal to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Interfax reported the same day. "This initiative has been put forward by the opposition and will be debated in parliament. The outcome of these debates is another issue," Voronin, who is attending a summit of the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) regional grouping in Kyiv, told reporters. Voronin added that Chisinau is seeking to increase GUAM's importance. "We want to transform this body into an international organization and to continue to do everything we have been doing, but on a different basis," he said.