CSTO, UN SIGN DECLARATION OF COOPERATION
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.03.2010 18:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The UN and CSTO (Collective Security Treaty
Organization), a post-Soviet security group, signed on Thursday a
declaration of cooperation between their secretariats.
The document was signed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and CSTO
General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha.
Mr. Ban said the declaration is an important step for the UN to
consolidate cooperation with regional organizations.
The CSTO, which is made up of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, has held observer status at the
UN since 2004.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow is interested
in closer cooperation with the UN through the CSTO, especially in
combating serious problems like drugs trafficking, especially from
Afghanistan.
"Drugs trafficking has emerged as a threat to both regional and
international peace and security," he said.
Russia has repeatedly called for the CSTO’s peacekeeping potential
to be used more widely.
Russian business daily Kommersant said UN-CSTO cooperation might
cover such areas as conflict prevention and resolution, terrorism,
international crime and arms trafficking.
The Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the declaration
has both practical and political significance for the CSTO, completing
the creation of "a political and legal framework between the two
organizations."
Russia’s national security strategy describes the CSTO as "a key
mechanism for countering regional military challenges and threats",
RIA Novosti reported.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
