Matters of Border Security of the CSTO and CIS Member States Discussed at the Conference in St. Petersburg

On March 27, a round table on "Global and Regional Challenges and Threats to the National and Collective Security of the CSTO" took place within the framework of the International scientific and practical conference in St. Petersburg.

Oleg Goncharov, deputy Head of the International Cooperation on Border Issues Department of the Coordination Service of the Council of Commanders of Border Troops, presented key discussion points on the current progress and the future prospects of ensuring security on the external borders of the CSTO and CIS Member States.

In his speech, Colonel Goncharov emphasized that "the dynamic transformation of the global and regional geopolitical situation has a significant impact on the security of external borders."

Among the key threats to collective security he named terrorism, illegal migration, weapons and drugs smuggling. Furthermore, he pointed out that in more than 30 years of work of the Council of Commanders, a single system of ensuring border security has been established, spanning more than 67,000 kilometers of the CIS external borders.

Oleg Goncharov shared the significant results of joint special operations. According to him, in the past 20 years over 91 thousand violators of the state border legislation have been detained, over 6.5 thousand crimes have been solved, over 18.5 tons of drugs and about 2 thousand weapons have been confiscated. These operations have become a platform for interdepartmental cooperation in combating cross-border crime.

In his speech, Colonel Goncharov paid special attention to the cooperation between the CIS and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). He noted that joint sessions and working meetings contribute to the development of model legislation, as well as improving coordination in combating terrorism and illegal migration.

The representative of the Coordination Service of the Council of Commanders of Border Troops emphasized the importance of further developing cooperation between the CIS and the CSTO states for strengthening the national and collective security.