Over its presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Armenia will pay special attention to the development of the peacekeeping component and strengthening of the CSTO defense, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said on Tuesday at an extended meeting of the CSTO summit, TASS reports.
“Such tasks as further improvement of control over the collective security system, including collective regional forces, promptness in taking and implementing decisions, holding joint drills, such as the Opyt-2016 (Experience) exercises due in Armenia, are coming to the fore,” he said. “Of great importance is joint effort to develop the system of CSTO crisis management.”
The Armenian President stressed that over his country’s presidency in the CSTO “big attention will be also paid to the organization’s peacekeeping component.” “It is time to set up a basic organization to train CSTO peacekeepers,” Sargsyan said. “We suggest the center for training Armenian army’s peacekeeping brigade be considered as a base for such organization.”
“Our efforts should be rooted in due account of joint liabilities and opinions of the partners,” the Armenian president stressed. “Another topical task is to expand CSTO’s cooperation with the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).”
“The Armenian Presidency “will also focus on joint struggle against international terrorism and radicalism, neo-fascism, chauvinism and other expressions of xenophobia,” President Sargsyan told journalists following the summit of the CSTO member states in Tajikistan, President’s Press Office reported.
“In this context we attach importance to the intensification of joint efforts to tackle cybercrime,” the Armenian President said.
Armenia takes over presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization after today’s session of the CSTO Collective Security Council.