MINSK, 16 May (BelTA) – The Collective Security Treaty Organization may grow larger. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin made the statement in an interview with the ministry's newspaper Vo Slavu Rodiny [For honor of the Motherland], BelTA has learned.
The Collective Security Treaty turned 30 and the Collective Security Treaty Organization turned 20 on 15 May. The Belarusian defense minister noted that the organization developed all the time in this period. “The system of its existence per se and the structure imply constant development. Exercises and training sessions are held every year. Their topics are versatile. Conclusions are drawn, decisions are made on the basis of these events and the organization develops,” Viktor Khrenin said. For instance, the counteraction of biological threats is the next direction for the development of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The relevant units in charge of radiation, chemical, and biological protection are supposed to appear by the end of the year.
Viktor Khrenin hypothesized that the Collective Security Treaty Organization will expand. “We will soon see how the world order changes. But the Collective Security Treaty Organization has demonstrated its combat ability, its love of peace. I think it will be more than six countries in several years. It will be dozens of countries, which appreciate peace and stability instead of aggressiveness and changes of the political system of other states,” the defense minister said.
Viktor Khrenin added that the organization will change and will respond to up-to-date threats. “Threats and challenges change all the time. Certainly, I don't think that color revolutions, terrorism, drugs smuggling, slave trade, and biological threats will somehow go away. Against this backdrop the organization will develop while defining the relevant units and assets, which are designed to counteract new challenges and threats,” he stressed.
