DUSHANBE, May 30, 2011, Asia-Plus — Principal Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoudjon Sobirov today morning departed for Minsk, Belarus to attend a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that will be held there on May 31, the Tajik MFA information department reports.
The meeting is expected to discuss ways to enhance effectiveness of the organization in the context of implementation of decisions of the December 2010 session of the CSTO Collective Security Council.
Topical problems of world and regional politics will also be touched upon, as well as the development of foreign policy cooperation of member nations, also in the framework of their interaction within international and regional organizations and prospects for interaction with the United Nations in the peacekeeping activities.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko is expected to receive the delegation heads, the source said.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is the regional security organization. It was initially formed in 1992 for a five-year period by the members of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) — Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which were joined by Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Belarus the following year. A 1994 treaty “reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force,” and prevented signatories from joining any “other military alliances or other groups of states” directed against members states. The CST was then extended for another five-year term in April 1999, and was signed by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In October 2002, the group was renamed as the CSTO. Uzbekistan became a full participant in the CSTO in June 2006. The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
