ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
November 30, 2004 Tuesday

CSTO Security Council secretaries discuss situation in C Asia

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

The Tenth meeting of the Committee of Security Council secretaries of
the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) member states was
held in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Tuesday.

“The meeting is called in the conditions of difficult political
situation in the CSTO responsibility zone,” Armenian Defence Minister
Serzh Sarkisyan said.

“The tendency towards the aggravation of global and regional threats,
first of all manifestations of international terrorism has been more
and more clearly observed of late,” the Armenian defence chief said.

“The internal political instability in Afghanistan, especially the
unceasing growth of drug trafficking, negatively affects the
situation in the Central Asian region,” Sarkisyan said.

According to him, “the analysis of the developments in the CSTO
responsibility zone confirms the correctness of the task set at a
session of the CSTO members in Astana, that is to maximally use the
potential of the organisation members in the foreign policy, security
and defence spheres in the interests of strengthening international
and regional stability.”

The CSTO will not only work to raise the effectiveness of its
structures, but will also widen cooperation with other international
organisations, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Igor Ivanov
said at the meeting.

According to Ivanov, these organisations will include first of all
the United Nations, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), NATO and
the European Union.

The Russian Security Council chief also said the meeting participants
discussed the plan of action on priority fields of activity of the
CSTO – fighting against international terrorism, drug trafficking,
illegal migration and various types of extremism.

“These are the problems the CSTO member states and the entire
international community are concerned about,” Ivanov said.

Summarising the meeting results, its participants stressed the
organisation has made a transition from political declarations to
concrete work in quite a number of spheres.

For example, in the sphere of military cooperation, military
personnel training and combating drug addiction.

“The CSTO is confidently taking to its feet. It is a serious
organisation, which has won international recognition. We are
positive that its further development meets our common interests,”
Ivanov emphasised.