Russia’s Europe security pact draft offers mutual military assistance

MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti)

A draft treaty on European security prepared by Russia allows
signatory states to provide military assistance to each other, the
Kremlin said Sunday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev put forward the initiative to work
out a treaty on European security on June 5, 2008, proposing that the
principle of indivisible security be legally sealed in international
law, preventing any state or organization from strengthening their
security at the expense of others.

"…every Party shall be entitled to consider an armed attack against
any other Party an armed attack against itself," says the draft
published on the Kremlin website.

"In exercising its right of self-defense under Article 51 of the
Charter of the United Nations, it shall be entitled to render the
attacked Party, subject to its consent, the necessary assistance,
including the military one, until the UN Security Council has taken
measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.

"Information on measures taken by Parties to the Treaty in exercise of
their right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the UN
Security Council," it says.

The UN Charter’s Article 51 that Russia’s draft refers to says:
"Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of
individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs
against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has
taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and
security."

The draft also says: "… the Party which has been attacked or
threatened with an armed attack shall bring that to the attention of
the Depositary which shall immediately convene an Extraordinary
Conference of the Parties to decide on necessary collective measures."

"The Extraordinary Conference of the Parties shall be effective if it
is attended by at least four fifths of the Parties to the Treaty," it
says, adding that decisions made by the Conference would be binding.

"If an armed attack is carried out by, or a threat of such attack
originates from a Party to the Treaty, the vote of that Party shall
not be included in the total number of votes of the Parties in
adopting a decision," it says.

The draft is open for signing "by all states of the Euro-Atlantic and
Eurasian space from Vancouver to Vladivostok" as well as by the EU,
NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the
post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The draft says the Parties shall not "assume international obligations
incompatible with the Treaty" but adds that the document "shall not
affect the right of any Party to neutrality."

The Parties will also have the right to withdraw from the treaty.

Medvedev has sent copies of the draft to heads of state and chief
executives of NATO, the EU, the CSTO, CIS and OSCE.

The CSTO comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Russia’s security strategy until 2020
approved by Medvedev envisions the CSTO as "a key mechanism to counter
regional military challenges and threats."