News & Events in Belarus

YEREVAN, 14 October (BelTA) – The leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states adopted the organization’s collective security strategy for the period till 2025 as a result of the summit held in Yerevan, Armenia on 14 October, BelTA has learned.

During the final briefing for mass media Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan said that the summit had passed a number of serious documents and decisions meant to considerably bolster the CSTO’s potential, improving collective security mechanisms and the organization’s working bodies.

The Armenia President described the adopted collective security strategy as one of the most important documents the summit had produced. Work on the document had been going on for several years.

According to Serzh Sargsyan, the CSTO strategy stipulates the organization’s priorities till 2025 and offers guidelines on further development along all the main cooperation avenues. The CSTO member states once again confirmed they are resolute to build relations with members of the international community on principles of equality and indivisible security. They confirmed they intend to refrain from threats of force in dealing with emerging problems in favor of political and diplomatic methods.

Resolutions were also adopted to reflect approaches of the CSTO member states to the main topical international issues. The current situation was evaluated bearing in mind new threats and challenges. The CSTO heads of state once again reaffirmed the organization’s role as an important instrument conducive to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring security, independence, and sovereignty of the member states.

The Armenia President noted that participants of the summit had discussed other important matters, too. In particular, results of the work to improve the CSTO’s performance and enhance the organization’s functional capabilities were summed up. Participants of the summit decided to set up a CSTO crisis response center. The new agency will be in charge of informational, analytical, organizational and technical support when the relevant decisions are made and will also enable information exchange in real time.

A resolution on the concept for developing the system for the joint training of military personnel, for standardizing armaments and military hardware in the Collective Security Treaty Organization was signed as well.

Apart from that, documents were signed to counteract international terrorism. The number includes a regulation on making a universal list of terrorist organizations. Serzh Sargsyan drew attention to the decision concerning regulations on operation of the CSTO Joint Staff.

According to the Armenia President, partners in the CSTO expressed support for the agreements reached during the summits in Vienna and Saint Petersburg in 2016 with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. In essence efforts will be exercised to prevent the conflict from escalating. Measures will be taken to stabilize the situation and enable conditions conducive to peace process. The need to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem by peaceful means only was confirmed.

Serzh Sargsyan said that the matter of the CSTO secretary general, which participants of the Yerevan summit had intended to discuss, would be discussed in Saint Petersburg in late 2016.