CSTO PA protects the Union State of Belarus and Russia from external challenges and threats

Sergei Pospelov, Executive Secretary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, spoke at the international conference Countering External Challenges and Threats: Parliamentary Dimension of the Union State, which was held in Moscow and Minsk via videoconference.
“We believe that contributing to the improvement of the CSTO regulatory framework is the most important sphere of the work, taking into account the main statutory task assigned to the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly,” the Executive Secretary noted.
He described the military and political situation in the CSTO Eastern European region of collective security as “remaining steadily tense over the past six years.”
Its state shows that negative tendencies remain, noted Sergei Pospelov, because of the influence of such external factors as:
– further improvement of the US armed forces stationing system in the European zone, quantitative and qualitative changes in the American military presence and its activity in Europe;
– improvement of the military infrastructure and operational preparedness of Eastern European countries that are NATO members;
– formation of rapid-deployment high-mobility groups of troops within the NATO coalition forces;
– widespread use of so-called hybrid warfare methods to misinform the population of NATO member states about the imaginary “threat of aggression from Russia and its allies to Western countries” and to misdirect citizens of Belarus and Russia about the true goals of NATO’s eastward expansion;
– continuing tension in Ukraine and a deep economic and political crisis in the state;
– possible degradation and aggravation of the Transnistria situation. 
In order to form a CSTO regulatory framework that would be adequate to contemporary challenges and threats, the Assembly adopts recommendations for the synchronization of ratification procedures for treaties signed within the framework of the Organization. 
Sergei Pospelov noted that at the time of the conference, of the 56 treaties signed within the CSTO, all have been ratified. 
In addition, the Assembly develops recommendations to bring the national legislations of the CSTO States in accordance with these treaties, as well as other decisions of the Collective Security Council.
Sergei Pospelov reminded that Vyacheslav Volodin, CSTO PA Chairman, tasked the Assembly to increase the quality of lawmaking, which leads to a high level of implementation of the CSTO PA model acts in the national legislation.
The CSTO PA Executive Secretary noted that in order to implement the decision of the Collective Security Council on formation of a single list of organizations recognized as terrorist, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted Recommendations on Harmonization of National Legislation of the CSTO States to the Extent Applicable to Recognition of Organizations as Terrorist that also govern implementation of their provisions in the national laws of the CSTO Member States.
Only one State has not yet implemented the provisions of this document in its legislation.
In accordance with 2025 CSTO Collective Security Strategy, a great deal of work is being done on approximation and harmonization of national legislation in the area of military and military-technical cooperation, countering terrorism, extremism, illegal drug trafficking and other challenges and threats to collective security. 
Considering the persistent potential for exacerbation of conflicts both in the CIS space and globally, the Assembly has intensified its work on improving the regulatory framework for the military component and peacekeeping potential of the CSTO.
Consistent formation of regulatory framework for countering threats to information security, modern combined forms of destructive influence on the CSTO Member States and ensuring digital sovereignty plays an important role in CSTO PA’s model lawmaking.
The CSTO model legal framework includes a total of 69 laws.
The CSTO PA Executive Secretary expressed special gratitude to the State Duma of the Russian Federation and the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, which had made the greatest contribution to the model lawmaking.
“We assume that the measures taken by the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly are in line with the objectives addressed by the Union State in order to counter external challenges and threats, to ensure national security and state sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation,” stressed Sergei Pospelov.