Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a roundtable discussion on the CSTO parliamentary dimension

The CSTO PA Executive Secretary addressed the international student conference International Youth UN Model of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia DIAMMUN-22.
On February 11, speaking at the international student conference, the CSTO PA Executive Secretary talked of the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in regional security using the example of the CSTO and its parliamentary component, the Parliamentary Assembly, focusing on the functions of the Parliamentary Assembly and noting its main task: legislative support to the CSTO activities in the fight against terrorism and corruption and ensuring economic, bio-medical and cyber security.
The CSTO PA Executive Secretary recalled that according to the CSTO Charter one of the most important activities of the Organization’s Parliamentary Assembly was the promotion of the development of the CSTO legislative base and harmonization of the Member States’ legislation on the issues of defence, military development and security. To fulfil this task, the Assembly adopts recommendations to synchronize ratification procedures for treaties signed within the CSTO framework. To date, of the 59 treaties signed within the framework of the Organization, only three – signed in September 2021 – remain unratified.
In accordance with CSTO Collective Security Strategy until 2025 and priorities of the CSTO presiding states, a lot is being done to approximate and harmonize national legislation in the areas of defence, military development, military and technical cooperation, national security, countering terrorism, extremism, illicit drug trafficking and other challenges and threats to collective security.
Considering potential exacerbation of conflicts both in the CIS and worldwide, according to Sergei Pospelov, the Parliamentary Assembly has intensified its work on improving the regulatory framework of the CSTO peacekeeping potential.
The CSTO PA Executive Secretary noted, “We have developed Recommendations on Improving the National Legislation of the CSTO Member States in the Area of Operation of Collective Peacekeeping Forces in 2019; Recommendations on Improving the Legislation of the CSTO Member States in the Field of Organizing International Flights of the Armed Forces, Other Troops and Military Formations of the Troops in 2020; and the CSTO Model Law on Peacekeeping Activities and Peacekeeping Forces.”
Sergei Pospelov is convinced that these model acts have greatly contributed to enhanced mobility of all components of the CSTO Collective Forces and, particularly, to the implementation of the Treaty on the CSTO Peacekeeping Activities of October 6, 2007. As well as to the effective implementation of the decision of heads of the CSTO States on the deployment of a contingent of the CSTO peacekeeping forces to the Republic of Kazakhstan in early 2022.
The Parliamentary Assembly is consistently engaged in the formation of a regulatory framework to counter threats to information security, modern hybrid destructive efforts against the CSTO Member States, ensuring their digital sovereignty and economic security.
The CSTO PA Executive Secretary separately touched upon the participation of international observer missions from the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly in presidential and parliamentary elections and referenda held in the Member States. This area of the Parliamentary Assembly’s work is increasingly becoming a sought-after tool for ensuring electoral sovereignty and political stability in the Organization’s Member States at a time when attempts by external forces to use elections to destabilize the situation are on the rise.
In 2021 alone, groups of international observers from the CSTO PA monitored the electoral processes in the CSTO States on six occasions.