CSTO SECURITY CHIEFS GATHER IN KYRGYZSTAN TO DISCUSS COOPERATION
Trend News Agenc
20.09.2007 11:55:49
(RIA Novosti) – Senior security officials from the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO) are meeting Thursday in Kyrgyzstan to
discuss political and military trends in Central Asia, the CSTO press
service said.
The Committee of Secretaries of the Security Councils is a consulting
and executive security body of the post-Soviet security group in
Central Asia, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The meeting is being held in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
"During the plenary meeting, Secretaries of the Security Councils will
discuss an annual report by the Secretary General as well as priority
activities for the next year," the press service said in a statement.
CSTO members use the organization as a platform to fight drug
trafficking, terrorism, illegal migration and organized crime, and
have pledged to provide immediate military assistance to one another
in the event of an attack.
During the upcoming meeting, the CSTO officials will also discuss
further development of the organization’s peacekeeping mechanisms.
The bloc has a Collective Rapid Reaction Force deployed in Central
Asia, and is continuing to build up its military forces, which some
experts view as a step to counter-balance NATO’s further eastward
expansion and to keep Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
countries under Russia’s military protection.
The committee is expected to review a number of draft documents
coordinating joint efforts in the fight against terrorism,
drug-trafficking and illegal migration.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
