CSTO PA Counter-Terrorism Strategy Presented at the Conference in Belgorod

On March 26, an All-Russian scientific and practical conference on countering the spread of extremist and terrorist ideologies among young people began in Belgorod. Sergei Pospelov, Executive Secretary of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, joined the conference via video call.

Addressing the organizers and participants of the event, Sergei Pospelov stressed that the CSTO Member States attach great importance to regulating the field of AI and protecting the information and communications space from extremist threats. 

He pointed out that the prolonged social restrictions during the pandemic allowed criminal group agents to expand their influence through the Internet and social media. Destructive information campaigns resulted in the extremist organizations increasing their recruitment numbers, going as far as involving minors in illegal activities and evading punishhment.

"To combat this and other global challenges, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly is consistently working on approximation and harmonization of the legislation of the Organization’s Member States," Sergei Pospelov noted.  

He pointed out that since its founding in 2006, the Assembly has adopted 104 model acts, with more than a dozen special acts directly aimed at further countering terrorism.

During his speech, the CSTO PA Executive Secretary also outlined the guiding princliples for the Assembly’s 2026–2030 Action Plan. In the coming years, the CSTO PA will focus on developing model legislation to prevent destructive external influence on the internal affairs and electoral processes of the CSTO Member States; regulating the use of new types of weapons and technologies powered by artificial intelligence; ensuring information, cognitive and cybersecurity; improving the media literacy of the population and further countering terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal migration and organized crime.