MOSCOW, 2 February (BelTA) – The Collective Security Treaty Organization is developing a mechanism to counter biological threats based on the COVID-19 pandemic experience, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said at an online press briefing on the military and political situation in and around the CSTO's area of responsibility, the CSTO's activities in 2020 and the goals for 2021, BelTA has learned.
Stanislav Zas noted that the biological threat is not new but it manifested itself as a global threat in 2020. "It was decided (on the initiative of Russia) to set up an appropriate mechanism within the framework of the CSTO to counter this threat," he said.
The secretary general explained that this mechanism means designating relevant forces, establishing a legal framework for their functioning, setting the necessary tasks. “We are currently working on this. We are developing a regulation to set up a coordinating council of heads of appropriate bodies on biological security. The document will determine the tasks and functions of the council,” he said.
According to Stanislav Zas, amendments are being made to the regulations on the CSTO Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils, which are also aimed at counteracting the biological threat. “I hope that we will be ready to submit the corresponding proposals to the heads of state by the autumn,” the secretary general stressed.
“Why is this important? We faced this pandemic last year, and we may have coped with it. No one, however, can guarantee that we will not have similar threats in the future, maybe even of a new nature. We should be ready for that, at least learn lessons and draw conclusions from last year and adjust our activities,” the CSTO secretary general said.
