MOSCOW, 17 June (BelTA) - The global security system as such is in crisis, but the CSTO is convinced of the need for a political settlement of all current contradictions, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas told the media following the meeting of the CSTO Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils held in Yerevan on 17 June, CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov told BelTA.
"During the meeting, we conducted a detailed analysis of the military-political situation in the world and undertook an assessment of the situation both in the area of responsibility of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and in the adjacent regions," Stanislav Zas said. “Today, we can state with regret that the global security system as such is in crisis. The agreements that have been there for decades are actually no longer valid, the level of mistrust between a number of major players has reached a critical level. Regional challenges and threats have not subsided but, on the contrary, tend to exacerbate due to the growing global uncertainty."
"The principled position of the CSTO remains the same: we are convinced of the need for a political settlement of all existing contradictions and call on all forces on which the international security depends to do so," the secretary general stressed. "Along with this, we are taking all necessary measures to strengthen peace and stability in the CSTO member states and are ready to protect their interests."
He pointed to the mounting security threats for the CSTO member states coming from several directions at once. In his words, some of the most effective instruments to maintain security in the member states and to counteract challenges and threats are building up manpower and military hardware and close collaboration of security services and law enforcement while conducting operative and preventive events. “For the past three years, the CSTO has been conducting the complex of operational and preventive measures Mercenary aimed at preventing recruitment, blocking entry/exit channels for citizens of the CSTO member states to participate in terrorist activities, as well as eliminating the resource base of international terrorist organizations in the CSTO. In the first half of this year, work was underway to grant the status of a regional permanent anti-terrorist operation to the special operation Mercenary. All the member states supported this proposal and a corresponding decision was formalized today,” Stanislav Zas said.
“From year to year, we are building up our capacity and amassing experience in countering drug trafficking, illegal migration and the use of information and communication technologies for criminal purposes. Special operations like Channel, Illegal Migrant and Proxy show their efficiency and effectiveness. Our operations have been recognized as the best operations of recent years by the professional community, including the international one. This is evidenced by the great interest in running special operations on the part of specialists from many countries as well as international and regional organizations. Special operations are planned for this year too,” he said.
Stanislav Zas also stressed that amid the increasing challenges and threats in the information sector and information technology, ensuring the security of critical information infrastructure has become one of the priority tasks for all the member states of the organization. “The number one priority is an active fight against criminal activities in information technology,” he said.
“This year we have a lot of work to do through the coordinating council on ensuring biological security of our states,” said the CSTO secretary general. “Alongside with the discussion of issues related to operational response to challenges and threats to the security of our states, the CSTO Secretariat is working on a package of normative legal acts to improve the crisis response system. We plan to present it at the autumn meeting of the authorized bodies and the session of the Collective Security Council,” he said.
“Taking into account the emerging situation, we have serious tasks to perform in order to strengthen the comprehensive potential of our organization, to continue working to enhance the authority of the CSTO in the international arena,” Stanislav Zas concluded.
