In Moscow a meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council (CSC) opened yesterday timed to the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Collective Security Treaty and the 10th anniversary of the CSTO establishment. The Declaration adopted by the heads of state reflects the main aspects of cooperation between the member countries over this lapse and also the long-term outlook for it.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization was established in October 7, 2002 in Chisinau as a regional international structure and is a successor to the same-name Treaty signed in May 1992. Its members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Since 1992 the CSTO has signed 43 international agreements and passed a number of resolutions in foreign policy, defense and security.

This jubilee session of the Collective Security Council was attended by the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Kazakhstan President N.Nazarbayev, presiding at the CSTO session, announced its agenda and congratulated V. Putin on the victory in the election, the recent inauguration and the 67-th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

In the narrow format the session identified collective actions in security, including combating modern threats and challenges, primarily coming from Afghanistan, the situation in the Middle East, West Asia, North Africa, Syria and the Iranian nuclear issue. Declaration of CSTO member-states was adopted covering all possible aspects of international security, in one way or another connected with the security of the member-states, and giving a realistic assessment of the Organization’s performance over the elapsed term.

The main topic of the plenary session, attended by foreign and defense ministers and Security Council secretaries of the member-countries was the CSTO tallies throughout the years 2002-2012 and its priorities directions .

In the performance report the CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha emphasized the role of the Treaty as an important tool of security on its space, and in the end of the Collective Security Council’s session, together with Nursultan Nazarbayev he made a statement to the media, summing up the work accomplished by the Organization.

20 years ago, N.Nazarbayev said, the Treaty on Collective Security was adopted to ensure our countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. Back then military-political vector was a sole cooperation priority in it and it was agreed that if one of its signatories was subjected to external aggression, others will defend them. But the world is constantly changing, with the range of threats only expanding from year to year, which necessitates further enhancement of cooperation to counter them.

That is why in 2002 the parties to the Treaty on Collective Security resolved to establish a multi-purpose international regional organization, which is the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization).

Nursultan Nazarbayev listed the tangible results achieved by the Organization: the formed effective structure of multilateral security cooperation and inter-state coordination bodies for it, the collective security force to duly respond to challenges and security threats; Agreement on Collective Peacekeeping was signed, also Protocol on the deployment of third states’ military infrastructure on CSTO members’ territories.

Annually the operations "Channel" and others are carried out to combat drug trafficking, illegal migration and ensure information security. The results indicate to a considerable cooperation potential in these areas. System of collective response to natural and manmade emergency situations is under formation.

- Kazakhstan is positive about the CSTO performance and will continue to make every effort to strengthen it, - said Nursultan Nazarbayev in the end.

The next CSTO CSC meeting, scheduled late in the next year, will bring up improvement of military cooperation in the Organization’s frames, the CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha told the press conference.

In the sidelines of the CSTO summit N.Nazarbayev met with the Russian President to talk over the prospects of Kazakh-Russian cooperation in trade-economic area and in the frames of the regional integration organizations, also uppermost international agenda issues.

As it was a jubilee session, the CSTO and CSC merit awards were established.

Rysty Alibekova

KP special correspondent

Moscow

Photo: Sergey Bondarenko, Bolatbek Otarbaev