POST-SOVIET BLOC SUPPORTS MEDVEDEV’S PAN-EUROPEAN SECURITY PLAN

RIA Novosti
May 31, 2010
YEREVAN

The Parliamentary Assembly Council of the post-Soviet Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) bloc has given its support
to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s initiative to improve the
European security structure, the speaker of the Russian lower house
of parliament said.

“We perfectly understand that security in Europe can not be built at
the expense of other states,” Boris Gryzlov, who also chairs the CSTO
Parliamentary Assembly, said.

“The entire space must be within the overall security frames and
all members of the Council have supported Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev’s initiative on improving the structure of European security,”
Gryzlov continued.

He added that the CSTO PA Council welcomed the development of the
Russian leader’s idea and will persuade their European colleagues
that relations on security issues must be based on this approach.

The CSTO comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Medvedev announced his initiative to draw up a new pan-European
security pact in May 2008, and the first real draft was presented
by the Kremlin in November 2009. It got responses from more than 20
governments and their administrations. The European Union and NATO
have also studied the draft.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said such a treaty
was unnecessary.

Her position was echoed by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
who has stated repeatedly that the West is no threat to Russia and
that extra security guarantees are uncalled for.

The assembly meeting was held on Monday for the first time in Armenian
capital of Yerevan.

From: A. Papazian