CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas praised the role of the Parliamentary Assembly in strengthening the collective security of the Organization’s States

In his speech at the meeting of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization on June 15, the CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas praised the role of the Parliamentary Assembly in strengthening the collective security of the Organization.
The Secretary General informed the CSTO PA Council about the situation in the Organization’s area of responsibility, measures taken to counter collective-security challenges and threats and the progress on ratification of international treaties concluded within the Organization by the CSTO Member States.
Speaking about the results of the November 2019 session of the Collective Security Council, Stanislav Zas stressed that the Council had approved the CSTO Member States’ Collective Action Plan to Implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy for 2019–2021, as well as the List of Additional Measures Aimed at Reducing Tension on the Tajik-Afghan Borderland, acknowledging that the November CSC session had further strengthened the Organization and made a significant contribution to improving its work.
Speaking about the situation in the Organization’s area of responsibility, the CSTO Secretary General drew the Council members’ attention to the fact that “unfortunately, despite the obvious need to consolidate international efforts to overcome the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, the current global situation is characterized by further aggravation of negative trends that existed before the epidemic. This applies to the dismantling of the international arms control system, the emerging arms race, the approaching of the military infrastructure to the CSTO area of responsibility and the intention to deploy it in space.
At the same time, initiators of the international situation’s aggravation ignore the UN Secretary-General Guterres’ call for a ceasefire in all conflicts against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.”
The CSTO Secretary General noted the growing threat to stability in the area on the southern border of the CSTO Central Asian collective security region.
Despite positive signals, tension in Afghanistan still remains, which continues to pose a direct threat to the security of CSTO Member States and leaves the future development of the situation unclear, with the probable termination of the American military operation there.
In the Caucasus region, despite the ongoing work to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and reasonably regular contacts between the parties, it is premature to talk about progress. Certainly, it is necessary to achieve a ceasefire on the line of contact between the parties’ armed forces, to eschew belligerent rhetoric, to strive for the resolution of issues by the concerned parties through dialogue and mutual compromise.
In the Eastern European direction, the trend towards militarization of the region and the development of military infrastructure continues. Information aggression on the part of some Western states is increasing. Thus, Mr Zas concluded, one must acknowledge the growing threats to the security of our states in several dimensions simultaneously.
Speaking about measures to counteract the growing threats, the CSTO Secretary General informed the CSTO PA Council that this year seven joint exercises are planned with the CSTO Troops (Collective Forces), including the command and staff exercise with the Collective Rapid Reaction Force Vzaimodeistvie-2020 (“Interaction 2020”), Unbreakable Brotherhood 2020 with the Peacekeeping Force and Cobalt 2020 with the Special Forces.
“The entire set of measures aimed at enhancing the CSTO capabilities to counter challenges and threats will be implemented,” he said.
“The set of measures includes the development of the draft 2021–2025 Anti-Drug Strategy of the CSTO Member States, the continuation of permanent operations Kanal (‘Channel’), Nelegal (‘Illegal person’) and PROKSI, as well as a set of anti-terrorist preventive operations codenamed Naemnik (‘Mercenary’) and measures aimed at reducing tension on the Tajik-Afghan border,” Mr Zas said.
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