Member of Russia’s upper chamber of parliament (Federation Council) Grigory Karasin considers that the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member nations should have the right to independently decide on the participation of troops in the Organization’s missions.
TASS says Grigory Karasin, who is Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, stated that the right of the heads of the CSTO member states to independently decide on the use of the armed forces of their countries in the territory of another member state without the approval of the parliament is a requirement of the time.
"It is necessary to go along the line of legislative registration of the right of the country's top leadership, commander-in-chief without any additional discussion in parliamentary committees and parliaments of using the armed contingent of one's country in CSTO missions,” Karasin said.
“This is a requirement of the time, because the situation can develop in different ways ", Russian MP during a roundtable on international cooperation in the fight against global challenges and threats, TASS reports.
He also recalled that this was discussed during a recent meeting of the heads of the committees on international affairs of the CSTO member countries. The Russian side asked that it is necessary to avoid situations when parliaments are forced to meet several times, since the first time it was not possible to vote for the use of the armed contingent, Karasin stressed. As an example, he cited the situations in Kyrgyzstan and ajikistan. MP also said that, according to his estimates, this proposal was “accepted with understanding.”
"But such work should be carried out and it should be completed. We will work on this," Karasin said.
He believes that closer cooperation is now needed to counter international challenges and threats within the framework of such organizations as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, and the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.
In early January this year, protests began in some cities of Kazakhstan due to an increase in prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG), which later turned into riots. Thousands of people suffered. According to some reports, a total of 164 people were killed, including 103 in Alma-Ata. In order to stabilize the situation in the country, the President of Kazakhstan turned to the CSTO for help. The CSTO peacekeeping forces were deployed to Kazakhstan. They were involved in the protection of facilities of national significance.
