May 15 marks the 32nd anniversary of the signing of the Collective Security Treaty. This document remains a fundamental element in ensuring the security of the CSTO Member States.
In 2002, a historic decision was taken to give the Collective Security Treaty the status of an international regional organization known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which includes six States: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
Due to joint efforts, in a short period of time the Collective Security Treaty Organization has consolidated itself as a credible and multifunctional structure that successfully carries out its duties in its area of responsibility. An example of the efficiency of the CSTO was the united actions of the Member States, who supported Kazakhstan in stabilizing the internal political situation in January 2022. Based on the experience of this peacekeeping operation, the leaders of the Member States took several important decisions to improve the CSTO crisis response system aimed at enhancing joint action efficiency, coordination and speed.
The Organization's Member States are consistently strengthening their interrelationships, improving foreign policy coordination and stepping up efforts to combat various threats, such as international terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, transnational crime and illegal migration.
New areas of cooperation, such as information and biological security, are also being actively developed. The Member States pay special attention to strengthening the CSTO's military potential, enhancing combat training and coordinating the actions of the CSTO Collective Forces contingents. This year, particular attention will be paid to conducting joint exercises on the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with a focus on ensuring security in Central Asia.
The CSTO is constantly expanding its external relations, involving third countries and international security organizations as observers and partners.
With a view to developing cooperation within the CSTO, it is planned to discuss opportunities for strengthening allied relations, enhancing the Organization's capabilities and taking measures to counter challenges and threats to the security of Member States at the forthcoming meetings of the Council of Defence Ministers, the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils and the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, scheduled for May and June 2024 in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA), consisting of parliamentary delegations of the Organization's Member States, is the CSTO's statutory body for inter-parliamentary cooperation.