Sergei Rachkov: The past CSTO summit pointed to the need for political interaction within the Organization

“The extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization has been held at an extremely important time when it is necessary to continue the coordination of actions of the CSTO Member States in order to stabilize the situation in Kazakhstan,” said Sergei Rachkov, member of the Standing Commission on Political Affairs and International Cooperation of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, Chairman of the Standing Commission on International Affairs and National Security of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, in an interview with sb.by.
Sergei Rachkov emphasized the timeliness of the deployment of the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces’ contingent.
“The deployment of the Organization’s peacekeeping forces showed the timeliness of the decision to invoke the relevant provision of the CSTO Charter for this purpose. This gave a clear message to the terrorist groups and made it possible to stop the development of the situation by the negative scenario, to stop the murder of representatives of law-enforcement bodies and the military, looting and seizure of state and public buildings and strategic infrastructure facilities.
During the CSTO CSC session, President of the Republic of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko rightly stressed the necessity of raising the level of political interaction within the CSTO framework. In my opinion, parliamentarians should play an important role in this area.”
Sergei Rachkov emphasized that the CSTO parliamentary dimension has been greatly reinforced lately: parliaments adopt model laws, including laws to ensure national security, counter international terrorism and develop peacekeeping forces, which are subsequently used in the legislative work of the national parliaments and help ensure stability and security in the CSTO states. Members of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly also participate in monitoring the military and political situation in the CSTO area of responsibility and are invited to military exercises of peacekeeping forces as observers.
“In this regard, it is advisable to continue developing the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly as one of the most important instruments of political interaction among the members of the Organization. For this purpose, in my opinion, it is necessary to progress towards adopting an inter-state treaty on the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly,” concluded Sergei Rachkov.