Anatoly Vyborny: There is no Place for Terrorism in the Entire CSTO Area

Anatoly Vyborny, Chairman of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly’s Standing Commission on Defence and Security spoke at the meeting of the Chairmen of the Committees (Commissions) of the Parliaments of the CSTO Member States on international relations, defence, and security issues. 

Anatoly Vyborny noted that in the context of the hybrid war unleashed against Russia, the range of activities of the Parliamentary Assembly has expanded in all areas, including foreign policy coordination, legal support for military cooperation, crisis response, peacekeeping, information and biological security.  

"We learnt the lessons from the first peacekeeping operation of the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces) in Kazakhstan in January 2022. In this regard, a Model Act was adopted regarding border and customs formalities and provision of formations’ transit through the territory of the CSTO Member States; organizing international flights of the armed forces, other troops, and military formations of the troops, as well as military duty and military service," Mr. Vyborny stressed.

He added that 20 out of 35 Model Acts and recommendations planned by the 2021–2025 CSTO PA Action Plan on Approximation and Harmonization of National Legislation of the CSTO Member States were adopted. Another 15 are to be adopted in 2024-2025. At present, three Acts have already passed expert reviews in the parliaments of the CSTO Member States.

"As we have seen, legal framework of the model legislation and the unified terminological system make it possible to solve a whole range of statutory tasks. For example, the CSTO regularly organizes Operation 'Proksi' ('Proxy'), operational and preventive events 'Kanal' ('Channel') and 'Nelegal' ('Illegal') to counter drug trafficking and illegal migration," Mr. Vyborny shared.

According to Anatoly Vyborny, the Assembly still pays increased attention to the harmonization of counter-terrorism legislation. Today, the CSTO anti-terrorism legislative base comprises 10 model laws aimed at countering terrorism and extremism.

"A striking example is the creation of a unified list of terrorist organizations in the CSTO format. Due to this legal mechanism, if an organization is recognized as terrorist in one CSTO Member State, it will be recognized as such in other CSTO states as well. So, there is no place for terrorism in the entire CSTO area," Mr. Vyborny declared.

He added that in 2024, it is planned to submit 7 draft Model Acts on information and migration security, as well as on criminal liability for crimes against military service.