CSTO – A NATO FOR THE EAST?
Global Research
February 9, 2009
The members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation – Russia
and six neighbouring states – have agreed to set up a collective
rapid reaction force to combat terrorism, military aggression, and
drug trafficking.
The decision was made during a CSTO summit in Moscow, attended by the
leaders and foreign ministers of the member-states: Russia, Belarus and
five countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia – Armenia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, the current chair of the group,
said the decision was momentous.
"I would like to emphasise the importance of this decision to
establish rapid reaction forces. It’s aimed at strengthening the
military capacity of our organisation."
Speaking at a media conference, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
said the new units "will not be less powerful than those of NATO".
He said: "the reason behind the creation of the collective forces of
operative functioning is a considerable conflict potential which is
accumulating in the CSTO zone".
Medvedev added that the force "should become an effective tool which
would maintain security in the region".
Up to now, the organisation has positioned itself as an important
political and military alliance in the post-Soviet space. But other
countries haven’t perceived it as such.
In theory, the CSTO already has a collective force. But it doesn’t
have a common command structure. Nor does it have a permanent home.
However, the decision to create a truly collective force with a
permanent location and a united command would propel the alliance to
a new level.
Earlier, Russian presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko said the new
unit "might be used to rebuff military aggression, conduct special
operations against international terrorism and violent manifestations
of extremism, transnational organised crime and drugs trafficking,
and also for the elimination of effects of natural and technogenic
emergencies."
Under existing arrangements, Prikhodko said, each CSTO member-state
had its own rapid reaction force that could be committed to action
in case of the emergence of common threats.
The global financial crisis was also talked about. Russia and four
neighboring countries – allied in the Eurasian Economic Community
(EurAsEc) – decided to give each other a helping hand to cope with
the credit crunch.
"We’re creating a fund of $10 billion. It will be like an air bag for
those states whose situation becomes critical," commented Belarusian
President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
This show of unity comes as Kyrgyzstan confirmed its decision to end
the lease of the Manas air base by the U.S. military. Since 2001 it
provided backup support for NATO troops in Afghanistan.
But the once-warm welcome has chilled after incidents between locals
and military personnel. There have been reports of fights with the
local population.
In one incident two women were run over in the capital Bishkek by
a vehicle driven by a U.S. serviceman. In another, a Kyrgyz citizen
was shot dead by an American soldier who escaped prosecution due to
immunity enjoyed by the U.S. military at the base.
Now Kyrgyzstan says the Americans have six months to pack up and leave.
"According to the terms of the agreement American soldiers have 180
days to fully withdraw from the base. The count begins from the moment
we exchange formal documents with the U.S.," Kyrgyzstan’s Security
Council chairman Adakhan Madumarov said.