MARAT SHIBUTOV: CSTO TO BECOME A SMALL ANALOG OF UN AND NATO

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.12.2008 16:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The changes occurring within the Collective Security
Treaty Organization mean that the CSTO will replace international
forces throughout the CIS, a Kazakh expert said.

"The CSTO will become a small analog of UN and NATO," Marat
Shibutov, a member of the Association of Frontier Cooperation, told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"It means the following: Russia officially ‘takes care’ of the member
countries. Besides, it will install air defense system of the member
countries and CSTO troops will be the only peacekeeping force in
their territory," he said.

"World actors and neighbors should keep in mind that further
steps to strengthen the CSTO will make its member countries more
pro-Russian. Furthermore Russia may also accept South Ossetia and
Abkhazia to the CSTO to ensure their security, thus granting the new
entities a status similar to that of Northern Cyprus," he added.

"The CSTO is gaining authority and promises to become the main force
in the CIS," Shibutov said.