Participants of a one-day summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), chaired by Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, yesterday adopted more than 15 documents and agreements in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.
The CSTO Collective Security Council session was attended by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon an Armenian Prime Minister session is attended by Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon as well as Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Welcoming the session participants, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov introduced the works done recently. In particular, he reportedly highlighted the works on strengthening the combat preparedness of the armed forces. Sooronbay Jeenbekov highlighted Russia’s role in upgrading the types of weapons. He also attached importance to the actions against drug trafficking, highlighting the active participation of the regional structures.
Jeenbekov also announced that Kyrgyzstan will hand over the rotating presidency of the organization to the Russian Federation next year.
Speaking at the summit, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon noted an increase in security threats and called on the CSTO member nations combine efforts against those threats, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
Tajik leader emphasized that the number of threats to security and stability had increased in the CSTO area of responsibility as well.
“Given the current situation, the Organization member nations must strengthen integration in the fight against these undesirable phenomena of the century,” Rahmon said.
He also called on the CSTO member nations to take measures to properly celebrate the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
The Tajik president’s official website notes that the CSTO leaders discussed the current situation in the region and the main directions of the Organization’s activities aimed at providing security in the region and in the world.
They also discussed joint measures to combat global and regional threats, international terrorism and extremism, cybercrime, trafficking in drugs and weapons as well as the current situation in Afghanistan.
The CSTO leaders reportedly signed more than 15 resolutions of the Collective Security Council on further integration.
The regional security organization 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 that suspended its membership in 1999 returned to the CSTO again in 2006 after it came under international criticism for its brutal crackdown of antigovernment demonstrations in the eastern city of Andijon in May 2005. On June 28, 2012, Uzbekistan announced that it has suspended its membership of the CSTO, saying the organization ignores Uzbekistan and does not consider its views. The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
