MOSCOW, 10 February (BelTA) – CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas met with participants of the first meeting of chairpersons of committees (commissions) of the parliaments of CSTO member states responsible for international relations in Moscow on 10 February, CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainedinov told BelTA.
“There was an interested and detailed discussion of the whole range of security problems faced by the member states of the organization. The participants of the meeting also considered measures to counter them in the parliamentary format. The CSTO secretary general drew attention to the importance of developing the force component of the CSTO, emphasizing the organization's plans to hold a series of large-scale exercises,” the spokesperson said.
“The idea behind these exercises is to counter the entire range of military and terrorist challenges and threats,” said Stanislav Zas. At the same time, he recalled the unconditional priority of political measures in the organization's activities.
“In the context of expanding political cooperation, the secretary general mentioned the successful promotion of the CSTO dialogue with international organizations such as the UN and the OSCE. He informed about his participation in the upcoming meeting of the UN Security Council on 16 February, during which plans are in place to consider issues of developing relations between the two associations. Stanislav Zas also gave details of the 28th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Stockholm in December 2021 and his meeting with OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmidt on the sidelines of that event,” Vladimir Zainetdinov said.
“During the speeches and the discussion that followed, representatives of the legislative assemblies of the CSTO member states presented the positions of the parties on the issues under discussion. The participants of the meeting praised the activities of the organization, including the results of the collective peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan. The MPs supported further strengthening of the system of collective security and made a number of concrete proposals, “the spokesperson said.
