MOSCOW, 9 June (BelTA) – The security mechanisms that gave 75 years of peace to Europe are failing. Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas made the statement as he delivered a video address to participants of the annual OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation on 9 June, BelTA has learned.
Stanislav Zas said: “The security mechanisms, which were created after World War Two and gave 75 years of solid peace to Europe, continue failing. The dismantling of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the launch of the Open Skies Treaty denunciation procedure will lead to a greater erosion of the existing arms control system.”
According to Stanislav Zas, people, who live on the Eurasian continent from the English Channel to Vladivostok, remain concerned about the development of the security situation. “One year ago it seemed that the pandemic and the need to fight it should unite all of us, consolidate the world community, and smoothen existing contradictions. However, it didn't happen,” he stated.
The official pointed out that with the declaration the Collective Security Council had passed and with a special statement by the CSTO foreign ministers of 1 December 2020 the CSTO member states reaffirmed solidarity and support for the UN secretary general's appeal for the immediate and global cessation of fire in all parts of the world due to the spread of the coronavirus of a new type. “One is forced to state that biosecurity has been added to the current list of threats and challenges,” Stanislav Zas said. “Despite certain accomplishments in fighting the coronavirus pandemic the economic, social, and demographic consequences the coronavirus has caused have a negative effect on the dynamic development of a significant number of countries and complicate prospects of ensuring lasting stability. We remain confident that new challenges of the modern time and fight against them will ultimately become a reason for unity in the OSCE region.”
Stanislav Zas reminded that during recent sessions of CSTO bodies in Dushanbe it was noted that no substantial changes in the sphere of global and regional security have been reached so far. “The prolongation of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in early 2021 remains quite significant but a single episode of the entire intense picture,” the official said.
The CSTO secretary general mentioned a rising number of military political threats in the Eastern Europe collective security region of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Strategic missile defenses continue being deployed and more troops are being deployed in the direct proximity to borders of the CSTO member states.
Stanislav Zas assured that the Collective Security Treaty Organization will step up participation in global efforts meant to ensure peace and security, that the Collective Security Treaty Organization will persist in pushing for the resolution of international and regional conflicts with purely peaceful, political diplomatic measures within the framework of universally recognized negotiation formats on the basis of principles and norms of international law without discrimination.
Plenipotentiary representatives of Armenia and Russia in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, delegations from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan also took part in the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation.
