CSTO countries discuss collective security in Kazakh capital

ITAR-TASS News Agency
June 18, 2004 Friday 12:22 AM Eastern Time

ASTANA, June 18 — Leaders of the Collective Security Treaty
Organisation (CSTO) member states at their summit here on Friday
discussed collective measures of security building and CSTO
strengthening.

Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and
Tajikistan, as well as the CSTO Secretary General, Nikolai Bordyuzha
began a round-table discussion in a narrow format.

Journalists attended only the summit’s opening ceremony and after
that the session was continued behind closed doors.

Russian president’s aide Sergei Prikhodko said earlier that the leaders
of the six countries would discuss in greater detail the situation
in the Middle East, including, possibly, the U.S. Greater Middle
East initiative, proposed at the recent Group of Eight (G8) summit,
the situation in Afghanistan, interaction in fighting terrorism,
and in combating drugs trafficking.

In this connection, Putin will inform the other presidents of the
results of the G8 summit. The Heads of State will touch upon matters
concerning the CSTO cooperation with other organisations, the United
Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
in particular.

Prikhodko mentioned the following three most important items on the
agenda of the CSTO summit: a real coordination of foreign policies
within the framework of international organisations, the establishment
of real functioning of the structures of the CSTO itself and joint
actions of air defence systems.

Heads of six CIS countries – Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan signed the Collective Security Treaty in
Tashkent in 1992. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Belarus joined the treaty
in 1993.

The treaty came into force for all nine countries in April 1994. But
in April 1999 Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan decided not to sign
a protocol on the treaty’s prolongation.

In 2002, the treaty was transformed into a valid international
organisation-CSTO.

The CSTO regulation said the member-countries take joint actions to
form an efficient collective security system within the framework of
the Organisation, create regional military groupings and coordinate
their efforts in fighting international terrorism, drug and arms
trafficking, organised crime, illegal migration and other threats.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress