Anatoly Vyborny: CSTO forces guarantee security on the border with Afghanistan

Anatoly Vyborny, Chairman of the CSTO PA Standing Commission on Defence and Security, deputy Chairman of the Committee on Committee on Security and Corruption Control of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, has spoken out about the foreign-policy threats which Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, outlined during the Territory of Senses youth educational forum.
 “Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has spoken about the persistent threat on the Central Asian borders. There are dozens of terrorist groups on neighbouring Afghan soil, drugs are being trafficked. It is difficult to be a neighbour to such a state, but the CSTO forces are prepared to deal with the crisis. Russian troops closely monitor Afghanistan’s borders with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Even though Tashkent is officially outside the CSTO, the system of collective security is always ready to cover a neighbour, repel a terrorist provocation and not let in a war,” Mr Vyborny noted.
The Chairman of the CSTO PA Standing Commission on Defence and Security believes this in turn obliges the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly to improve the legal mechanisms of cooperation of the CSTO Member States in the area of defence and harmonize the national legislations to enhance collective security and stability.
“We are harmonizing laws and regulations so that terrorists and criminals cannot hide in neighbouring states, so we can suppress their activities, including in the information space.
And when the Taliban, for example, is considered a terrorist and banned organization throughout the CSTO, but not in a neighbouring state, it is clear how ineffective our joint actions can be,” the parliamentarian said.
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