GENERAL SECRETARY OF CSTO NIKOLAI BORDYUZHA: WE ARE A UNITED SECURITY SPACE
by Oleg Gorupai
DEFENSE and SECURITY
May 26, 2008 Monday
Russia
GENERAL SECRETARY OF CSTO SPEAKS ON ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION
IN PROVISION OF SECURITY IN EURASIA; Due to the fifth anniversary
of the establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO) marked in 2008, Krasnaya Zvezda turned to General Secretary of
the organization, Nikolai Bordyuzha, with a request to say that these
years meant for the organization and to speak about its achievements
in the provision of security in Eurasia.
Due to the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) marked in 2008, Krasnaya Zvezda
turned to General Secretary of the organization, Nikolai Bordyuzha,
with a request to say that these years meant for the organization
and to speak about its achievements in the provision of security
in Eurasia.
Question: Is the entrance of new countries into the CSTO planned?
Bordyuzha: We do not speak about a need for the entrance of new member
states into the CSTO now. If any country wants to participate in the
collective security system and submits an application, the Collective
Security Council will consider it. There is no need to accelerate
the attraction of new members to CSTO now.
Question: You have announced recently that "There are new attempts
to weaken interaction of the post-Soviet states with Russia and to
cut it from its historic partners and current allies." Do these plans
have any chance for success?
Bordyuzha: It is impossible to speak about the success of these plans
although we see growing activeness of some ex-regional structures
and the third countries in their attempts to hinder integration in
the post-Soviet space. Various well-tested methods are used for this
purpose for the insertion of proposals regarding projects which are
alternatives to the projects already implemented by CSTO to use of
the practice of ignoring of these or those CSTO member states in
solving certain security problems.
Question: How do you think the CSTO and Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) can cooperate?
Bordyuzha: First of all, CSTO and SCO should not create duplicating
structures. For example, a mechanism of counteraction to drug
trafficking has been well tested and is working successfully in the
CSTO. In this aspect we can cooperate with colleagues from the SCO.
In the interests of security CSTO and SCO can also cooperate in the
political field coordinating foreign policy efforts, for instance,
in UN in promotion of their initiatives.
The third line of cooperation is the combating of terrorism, political
and religious extremism.
The next line of cooperation is combating illegal trafficking of
weapons, radioactive materials, their transportation and transnational
organized criminal groups.
I will say that the CSTO has many things that the SCO does not
have. For example, this is the agreement on the status of collective
forces in accordance with which we can settle issues regarding the
transportation of military units from one member states to the other
quickly.
Besides, there is a system of preferences in the CSTO format. For
example, member states can buy armament at domestic prices of the
manufacturing country. There is also an agreement on free of charge
and the privileged training of military staff.
Question: Is the organization of joint exercises of the armed forces
of member states of CSTO and SCO possible?
Bordyuzha: Yes, of course. Everything depends on political will of the
member states. I am convinced that it is necessary to organize such
exercises under two flags: the CSTO and SCO. First, this will have
very special political repercussions in the world. Second, the list
of participants having common approaches to security will be fuller
and this is really so. The potential of China will be added to CSTO
and potential of Armenia and Belarus will be added to potential of SCO.
Question: The West will criticize large-scale exercises of the CSTO
and SCO.
Bordyuzha: Honestly speaking, I am not interested in the West’s
reaction.
Question: Will the CSTO become a political pole of the world in the
future offering a path to security to the states being alternative to
NATO, a kind of alternative to NATO and the "order" that the alliance
has brought to peoples of Serbia and Iraq?
Bordyuzha: The CSTO advocates cooperation with NATO and not
counteraction to it. CSTO like SCO is not a counterpart of the Warsaw
pact of the "cold war" period. Not a single document of the CSTO and
SCO contains a paragraph on opposition to NATO. The military factor
is not the main factor in the activities of CSTO. That is why I would
not say that the CSTO is an alternative to NATO.
In any case, we register the wish of this military political bloc
to work with CSTO member states individually. This position shows
that Brussels obviously does not wish to "legalize" the CSTO by
establishment of formal relations with it and sees nearly a rally in
it in implementation of the course of NATO at "development" of the
post-Soviet space according to its standards.
Question: You proposed the organization of a meeting of five
top-ranking officials of CIS, Eurasian Economic Union, CSTO, OSCE
and SCO in 2008. Is there a response to this proposal?
Bordyuzha: All these organizations act in the post-Soviet space very
actively. We receive positive answers to our proposal from everyone
except for the UN Secretary General. We are waiting…