MINSK, 21 December (BelTA) – I hope to be appointed to the post of the CSTO Secretary General by consensus, State Secretary of Belarus' Security Council Stanislav Zas told the media after the meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, BelTA has learned.
The Belarusian nomination to the post of the CSTO Secretary General had already been approved by the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Russia. Stanislav Zas visited these countries to meet with the heads of state. “The meetings were positive in tone and nature. They proved effective and useful for me. It is advisable to make this a regular practice when people nominated for the post of secretary general of the military-political bloc meet with the heads of state,” Stanislav Zas said.
Stanislav Zas said that during the talks with the heads of state he learned their vision of the situation in the region as well as the activities of the organization, and which issues they expect to be addressed in the near future. “Not all formalities have been complied with. I think that we will deal with all the legal formalities in the next few days or early next year and I will begin work in the new post,” Stanislav Zas added.
When asked about a possible meeting with the Armenian authorities, Stanislav Zas said: “I am ready to meet with the prime minister of Armenia, the minister of foreign affairs, and the defense minister any time convenient for them to discuss issues and problems they see related with the organization and continue working taking into account these matters.”
In his words, the CSTO charter allows adopting decisions in a limited format when not all the states agree on the issue. “I hope, however, that the consensus will be reached and the current issues will be removed. This outcome will be the best and the most beneficial. We need to overcome disagreements and move forward,” Stanislav Zas said.
