Bolat Imanbaev: CSTO is an important tool for coordinating collective security in the region

The main objective of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is to strengthen peace, international and regional security and collectively protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Organization’s Member States.
According to ArmInfo, Bolat Imanbaev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Armenia, said this at the international conference Present and Future of the CSTO: On the 30th Anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the 20th Anniversary of the CSTO Establishment held by the Centre for Russian Studies of the YSU Department of International Relations together with the NGO Integration and Development and Eurasia Expert Club.
According to him, ensuring international security and stability is of great importance under the current circumstances.
“This is an urgent task for both Kazakhstan and Central Asia. In this sense, the CSTO is an important tool for interaction and coordination to ensure collective security in our region,” Bolat Imanbaev said.
The Ambassador recalled the words of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who said that over the past 30 years the CSTO has established itself as an effective mechanism for multilateral cooperation with a serious potential for further development. The Ambassador pointed to the effective cooperation between CSTO bodies and strengthening of defence, law enforcement and peacekeeping capabilities.
Mr Imanbaev recalled that Kazakhstan pays special attention to combating international terrorism and extremism, illegal drug and weapons trafficking and illegal migration, including in the context of the evolving situation in Afghanistan. Instability in that state still threatens the stability and security of the CSTO Member States, he said.
“Therefore, we are convinced that the CSTO States should take into account all potential threats and pay even greater attention to the need to ensure the security of the southern borders of Central Asia,” the head of Kazakhstan’s diplomatic mission in Armenia said.
The Ambassador said that strengthening of the CSTO peacekeeping potential is another urgent issue, and noted that the time has come to join the UN peacekeeping activities.
“That step will strengthen the CSTO’s legal standing and provide the Organization with practice of participation in international peacekeeping operations,” Bolat Imanbaev said, stressing the priority of that issue during the Republic of Armenia’s presidency in the CSTO.
Bolat Imanbaev also noted that Yerevan will host a number of events within the framework of the Republic of Armenia’s presidency in the CSTO, nearest of them being the CSTO PA meeting in June, and then meetings of the CSTO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Council of Secretaries of Security Councils.
“Overall, Kazakhstan consistently stands for the creation of conditions to counteract new challenges and threats on the basis of international law and ensure early warning and prevention of emerging threats and eradication of the fundamental causes underlying them,” Bolat Imanbaev stressed.