Sergei Rachkov: in the face of modern challenges and threats, the active work of CSTO structures is of particular importance

Sergei Rachkov, Chairman of the Standing Commission for Foreign Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, commented on the meeting of the Standing Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization held on 16 October, in which he took an active part, and suggested ideas for improving the effectiveness of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.

– Mr Rachkov, what do you see as the main task of the Parliamentary Assembly in strengthening the security of the CSTO Member States?
– Recently, against the backdrop of modern challenges and threats, active work of the CSTO structures has become particularly important. The main task of the CSTO PA should be primarily aimed at parliamentary implementation of the decisions of the highest body: the CSTO Collective Security Council.
It is my view that the parliaments of the CSTO Member States can make a greater contribution to improving the legal and contractual framework of our organization. To this end, it is necessary, among other things, to increase the timeliness and speed of implementation of domestic procedures following the document signing.
Priority should be given to promoting and improving model legislation, increasing the relevance and quality of model laws. The draft model laws that we receive in the parliaments for consideration are not always prepared professionally and with high quality. Because of this, relevant organizations are less committed to considering and submitting their proposals. We see a significant potential for improving the efficiency of our contribution to enhanced security of the CSTO Member States if these shortcomings are eliminated.
– The meeting of the CSTO PA Standing Commission on Political Affairs and International Cooperation discussed coordination of CSTO parliamentarians on external venues. Is this an effective work tool and what is its main task in your opinion?
– Today the Commission has approved the draft Recommendations on Coordination of Activities of Parliamentary Delegations of the CSTO Member States in International Parliamentary Organizations initiated by Belarus.
The document establishes a mechanism for holding consultations of parliamentary delegations of the CSTO Member States concerning the main items of the international agenda before and during the events of inter-parliamentary bodies.
The recommendations formalize the procedure of mutual coordination of foreign policy activities by the delegations of the CSTO Member States during the OSCE PA sessions. Belarus actively supports such a mechanism and believes it advisable to use it on a larger scale, in particular, in drafting the OSCE PA resolutions concerning additional agenda items.
The adoption of the recommendations should make it possible to extend the mechanism of consultations on the coordination of the CSTO Member States’ foreign-policy stances to other inter-parliamentary venues.