Status of Collective Security Treaty on rise – Russian spokesman
RIA news agency
10 Nov 04
Moscow, 10 November: The Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO) continues to develop dynamically as a military and political
organization, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko
said in an interview to RIA news agency.
“Following the session on collective security in Astana in June 2004,
the CSTO continues to develop dynamically as a military and political
organization. The unanimous approval of the resolution granting the
CSTO an observer status with the General Assembly by the 6th Committee
of the UN General Assembly Session speaks for the CSTO’s rising
prestige as an international regional organization,” Yakovenko said.
In the run-up to the meeting of the [CSTO’s] Council of Foreign
Ministers, Yakovenko said that the CSTO is a multifunctional military
and political integration body, comprised of Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The CSTO’s main task
is to create an advanced collective security system, capable of
responding to any possible threat to the security of the member states.
“The issues of responding to new challenges and threats, namely
terrorism and other violent manifestations of extremism, drug
trafficking, illegal migration, organized crime, are at the top of
CSTO’s agenda. The work in this sector is coordinated in the framework
of the CSTO by the Committee of Security Council Heads of the CSTO’s
member states,” Yakovenko said.
“The Collective Rapid Deployment Force in Central Asian collective
security region (CRDF), created in 2001 and comprising Russian,
Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tajik units, played an important role in stopping
the activities of Islamic extremists’ groups in Central Asia. In the
time since it has been set up, CRDF has evolved into an important and
almost crucial factor of ensuring peace and stability in Central Asia,”
he said.
The full text of the interview has been published on the RIA news
agency site at