CSTO LEADERS SIGN AGREEMENT ON FORMATION OF COLLECTIVE RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCE DESPITE ABSENCE OF BYELORUSSIAN PRESIDENT
ArmInfo
2009-06-15 12:11:00
ArmInfo. The CSTO leaders have signed the agreement on formation
of the Collective Rapid Deployment Force (CRDF) despite absence of
Byelorussian president Aleksander Lukashenko.
‘We have signed a document containing the Agreement on Collective
Force, the decision of the Collective Security Council on CRDF staff>,
Dmitry Medvedev said. In addition, President Medvedev said the CSTO
leaders signed a document on fulfillment of the decision of the
Collective Security Council on CRDF dated Feb 4 2009.
The decision to create CRRF was made at the extraordinary summit of
the CSTO Collective Security Council on February 4 in Moscow. Earlier,
CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha said CRRF will consist of
two components – troops of special appointment (airmobile forces),
capable of moving to any points of CSTO states for the localization
of armed conflicts, and the force of special appointment from the
security services, Interior Ministries for the special operations of
anti-terrorist and anti-narcotic nature.
Armenia assumed CSTO chairmanship from Kyrghyzstan in 2008. Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
are members of CSTO founded in 1992. On June 15 2009 Armenia rotated
CSTO chairmanship to Russia temporarily because of Belarus’s refusal to
participate in the session of the CSTO Ministerial Council in Moscow.