MATERIAL FOR PRESENTATION OF THE STATUSES OF THE CSTO PARTNER AND OBSERVER UNDER THE CSTO
HISTORY
The beginning of the process of military-political integration in the post-Soviet territory was laid at the end of the 20th century, when the European security system that emerged from the Second World War ceased to exist. The resulting void space stimulated the establishment of the “right of the powerful” on the international arena, the use of forcible methods to achieve foreign policy goals.
The dangers posed by the collapse of decades-old mechanisms of mutual deterrence were further emphasized by the aggravation of the situation in Afghanistan, a periodic spike in tension in the Caucasus region, ambiguities with the implementation of the Treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe, and the proximity of NATO military infrastructure to the western borders of the post-Soviet territory.
Under the current conditions, a number of states that have formed in this region have shown interest in active and substantive cooperation in the field of security.
On May 15, 1992, in Tashkent (the Republic of Uzbekistan) a Collective Security Treaty was signed, providing for an unprecedented level of integration of the member states in the military-political sphere in the post-Soviet territory. The Article 2 of this document is of key importance. This Article stipulates the obligation to put in action a mechanism for joint consultations in the event of a threat to the security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of one or more of the participating states. The Article 4 is in particular important, which reads: “If one of the states - participants is the target of aggression (an armed attack threatening security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty), it will be considered by the participating states as aggression (armed attack threatening security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty) against all states parties to this Treaty.
In case of aggression (an armed attack that threatens security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty) against any of the participating states, all other participating states, at the request of that participating state, will immediately provide it with the necessary assistance, including military assistance, and will also provide support to those in their disposal of funds in the exercise of the right to collective defense in accordance with the Article 51 of the UN Charter.
States Parties shall immediately notify the United Nations Security Council of measures taken pursuant to this Article. In implementing these measures, participating states will adhere to the relevant provisions of the UN Charter. ”
The time after the signing of the Treaty was a period of strong development of the regulatory framework of military-political and military-technical cooperation, and the establishment of a system of foreign policy coordination.
In order to improve the format of cooperation between the member states parties to the Treaty, on October 7, 2002 in Chisinau (the Republic of Moldova) the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization was signed, which legally formalized the creation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The Article 3 of the CSTO Charter defines the goals of the Organization as strengthening peace, international and regional security and stability, collective defense of the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states, the priority of which member states give to political means.
The Charter does not affect the rights and obligations of member states under other international treaties to which they are parties.
In accordance with the Article 7 of the Charter, the CSTO member states take joint measures to form within its framework an effective collective security system that provides collective protection in the event of a threat to security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty and exercise the right to collective defense, including the creation of coalition (collective ) forces of the Organization, regional (combined) groupings of troops (forces), peacekeeping forces, integrated systems and bodies of command and control, and military infrastructure.
STRUCTURE
The adoption of the Charter gave an impetus to the process that led to the formation of the current clear organizational structure of the CSTO, consisting of statutory, permanent and subsidiary bodies and allowing to successfully solve the tasks facing the Organization. This structure is provided with a powerful and constantly evolving information-analytical and information-technological base.
Currently, the structure of the CSTO is as follows:
In accordance with the Article 13 of the CSTO Charter, the legislative body of the Organization is <b>the Collective Security Council (CSC)<b>, which determines the strategy, main directions and prospects for the development of military-political integration within the CSTO; coordinates the interaction of member states in the military-political sphere; improves the collective security system, develops and deepens cooperation in the military-political, military-technical and other fields, defines the main directions of joint work to counter modern challenges and threats, organizes peacekeeping. The CSC includes (depending on the distribution of powers at the national level) the heads of state or government of the CSTO member states.
The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers of Defense and the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CMFA, CMD, KSSC) are respectively advisory and executive bodies in the fields of foreign and military policy, military development and military-technical cooperation, as well as ensuring national security. They organize the implementation of decisions and recommendations of the CSTO Collective Security Council, coordinate the activities of member states, facilitate the maintenance of contacts and consultations between them, develop proposals, and consider operational issues of cooperation in their areas of work.
Coordination of the interaction of member states in the implementation of decisions taken between sessions of the CSTO CSC is carried out by the Permanent Council of the Organization, consisting of Permanent and Plenipotentiary Representatives appointed by the member states. The tasks of the Permanent Council, in addition to the aforecited, include analysis of the situation, the rapid exchange of information on pressing issues of ensuring national, regional and international security, participation in the preparation of decisions and meetings of the statutory bodies of the Organization - the CSC, the CMFA, the CMD and the CSSC.
In accordance with the Article 17 of the Charter of the Organization, the highest administrative official of the CSTO is the Secretary General of the Organization. He equally expresses the interests of all member states, implements their common political orientation. The CSTO Secretary General manages the Secretariat, organizes consultations of member states on the implementation of the Treaty, coordinates the development and approval of draft decisions and other documents for sessions of the CSC, meetings of the advisory and executive bodies of the Organization, and for various consultations.
The permanent working body of the CSTO, providing organizational, informational, analytical and advisory support to the Organization’s activities, is the CSTO Secretariat. In collaboration with the Permanent Council, the Secretariat prepares draft decisions and other documents on issues related to the activities of the CSTO, submits information-analytical and other necessary materials to member states, ensures the preparation and conduct of meetings of the Permanent Council, etc.
To solve the problems associated with the formation, functioning and use of Troops (Collective Forces); the preparation and conduct, together with the defense departments of the member states, of the trainings; military-technical cooperation; coordination of joint training of military personnel and specialists; the organization of the functioning of the CSTO Crisis Response Center, the CSTO Permanent Working Body – the CSTO Joint Staff was formed. It started working on January 1, 2004.
In order to monitor the CSTO area of responsibility, to identify the prerequisites for crisis and emergency situations, as well as organizational, informational, analytical and informational and technical support for the activities of the organization’s statutory, working and subsidiary bodies, the CSTO Crisis Response Center was formed.
The subsidiary bodies, on an ongoing or temporary basis for solving the tasks facing the CSTO, are:
- The Interstate Commission on Military-Economic Cooperation;
- The Coordinating Council of the Heads of the Competent Authorities to Combat Drug Trafficking;
- The Coordinating Council of the Heads of the Competent Authorities to Combat Illegal Migration;
- The Coordinating Council of the Heads of the Competent Authorities for Emergency Situations;
- The Consultative Coordination Center for Computer Incident Response.
They are called upon to coordinate the interaction of the competent authorities of the CSTO member states in the areas falling within their competence.
In order to directly connect the potential of the general staffs of the armed forces of the CSTO member states to the development of the military-theoretical and conceptual foundations of military development, the solution of the problems of military construction, the planning and use of the assets of the Organization’s collective security system, as well as the solution of other tasks of military cooperation, in December 2012, the Military Committee was established consisting of the chiefs of these staffs.
Under the statutory bodies there are other working groups in certain areas of cooperation:
- The Working Group on Afghanistan under the CSTO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs;
- The Coordination meeting of the main narcologists of the CSTO member states.
The CSTO Parliamentary Assembly was formed to consider issues of rapprochement and harmonization of the legal systems of the member states, the practice of ratifying international treaties concluded within the framework of the CSTO, the implementation of decisions of the sessions of the Organization’s CSC and the tasks of their legal support.
In order to strengthen the information and analytical potential of the CSTO and work with youth on a voluntary basis, the CSTO Scientific Expert Council, which includes well-known scientists and public figures, experts in the field of law and international security, including heads and experts of research and public centers monitoring and researching international security problems, as well as the Analytical Association, which currently unites 30 specialized structures from all CSTO member states and the CSTO University League, which has more than 25 universities of the CSTO member states and holds various events on a regular basis for youth, including round tables and training seminars, have been formed and operate.
MECHANIZMS
In order to fulfill the Organization’s tasks in all priority areas of its activities, mechanisms of practical interaction have been created within the Organization.
In particular, in the field of foreign policy cooperation (Internal coordination), in order to exchange views, adjust and coordinate their positions on international and regional topical security problems that affect the interests of the Organization's Member States, as well as develop consolidated approaches and joint positions on the development and improvement of the system collective security, development of proposals on international cooperation in order to conduct a coordinated foreign policy, including on arms limitation, disarmament and non-proliferation, and in the interest of countering international terrorism, extremism, illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, weapons, transnational organized crime and other security threats, there are regular and urgent multilevel consultations of representatives of the CSTO member states, including:
- leaders of states (in the course of the sessions of the CSC CSTO and working meetings);
- Ministers of Foreign Affairs (in the course of meetings of the Ministerial Council and informal meetings at the UN and OSCE);
- deputy foreign ministers;
- directors of relevant departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- ambassadors in third countries;
- Permanent representatives in international organizations;
- Permanent and plenipotentiary representatives to the CSTO (as part of the meetings of the CSTO Permanent Council), including with the possibility of attracting experts from interested ministries and departments of the member states.
In order to defining the coordinated positions of the CSTO member states on a wide range of pressing problems, to defend their collective interests, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs annually approves the List of Topics of Joint Statements for adoption at various international sites and distribution as official documents. Joint statements may be submitted for consideration outside the lists of topics. They may be submitted proactively.
The meetings and consultations of the CSTO Secretary General with senior administrative officials of other international and regional organizations and leaders of third countries are another important element of this mechanism. In the course of these meetings the consolidated position of the CSTO member states and the Organization as a whole, developed including at the above consultations, is presented on a wide range of urgent problems of regional security, interaction priorities are being developed to solve them, and the possibilities of synergy of their potentials are being considered.
The Article 4 of the CSTO Charter states that in its activities the Organization cooperates with states that are not members of the Organization, maintains relations with international intergovernmental organizations operating in the field of security. The organization promotes the formation of a just, democratic world order based on universally recognized principles of international law.
The CSTO has observer status with the United Nations. As a rule, every two years the UN General Assembly adopts the resolution “Cooperation between the UN and the CSTO”. In 2010, the Joint Declaration on Cooperation between the secretariats of both organizations was signed and is in force.
Many specific areas of cooperation between the CSTO and the UN are based on relevant documents concluded between the CSTO Secretariat and specialized units of the UN Secretariat. These include, in particular, the Memorandum of Understanding with the Executive Directorate of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council, the Protocol on Cooperation between the CSTO Secretariat and the Office on Drugs and Crime, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the CSTO Secretariat, the Memorandum of Cooperation and Interaction between the CSTO Secretariat and the UN Counter-Terrorism Directorate, UN TU - November 9, 2018, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding between the CSTO Secretariat and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, memorandum on cooperation between the CSTO Secretariat and the Administration of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
A Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation and interaction with the UN Counter-Terrorism Office has been signed. A Memorandum of Understanding between the CSTO and the UN regarding the provision of resources for peacekeeping operations is being prepared for signing. The dialogue between the Department of Political Affairs and Peacebuilding of the UN Secretariat is advancing.
Contacts are regularly maintained with the UN Secretary General, his relevant deputies, and other senior officials of the UN Secretariat.
The basis for cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is the document “Main Directions for the Development of Cooperation between the CSTO and the OSCE” approved by the Decision of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers.
It is, in particular, about developing an international dialogue on pressing collective security issues, promoting an initiative in the OSCE area to conclude a new legally binding European Security Treaty, increasing the effectiveness of the OSCE with a view to transforming it into a full-fledged international organization with its own Charter.
Regular contacts have been established and maintained between the Secretary Generals of the two organizations, who also spoke at the high audiences of the two partner organizations — before the Foreign Ministers. Representatives of the CSTO Secretariat participate in the annual conference on the review of the security situation and the Forum for Security Cooperation, and our partners from the OSCE Center for Conflict Prevention and the Department for Combating Transnational Threats of the OSCE Secretariat take part in the CSTO core activities.
We should put an increased focus the participation of representatives of the OSCE working structures in the International Anti-Terrorism Meeting, held by the CSTO Secretariat in June 2017, the meeting of the Working Group on Afghanistan at the CSTO Ministerial Council and their involvement in the CSTO anti-drug activities.
Progressive advance in cooperation with traditional partners persists - the CIS and the SCO, including both on a bilateral basis and in the format of trilateral cooperation. The constantly working expert group of the CSTO, the CIS Counter-Terrorism Center and the SCO Regional Antiterrorist Structure are gradually developing.
The fruitful cooperation in various fields of humanitarian activity with the International Committee for the Red Cross continues, contacts are maintained with the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism, Interpol, the International Organization for Migration and other structures.
In addition to the relevant steps previously taken, work is ongoing to establish business contacts with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In the adopted on May 22, 2019, Open Appeal of the CSTO Member State Ministers of Foreign Affairs, addressed to NATO foreign ministers on strengthening mutual trust and developing cooperation, formulated a number of specific priority measures that can help solve this problem: establishing direct contacts between the secretaries general of the two organizations, creating a mechanism for regular consultations between the CSTO and NATO secretariats on topical issues of regional and European security, promoting contacts between the CSTO and NATO in order to create a mechanism for preventing dangerous military incidents, conducting briefings on the most significant CSTO trainings and NATO, assistance in ensuring mutual participation as an observer in military trainings in the format of the CSTO and NATO, an invitation to closer cooperation in the fight against illegal drug trafficking.
CSTO relations with individual states are developing. Regular contacts are maintained with members of the political and military leadership of Afghanistan, Serbia, and a number of other countries. Serbian military personnel periodically take part in the military trainings held in the format of the CSTO.
The working group on Afghanistan working under the CSTO Foreign Ministers Council is a specialized mechanism for addressing security threats which are coming from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and for developing common approaches to assist the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. In the course of its meetings, which are held at least twice a year (usually with the participation of invited experts from interested international organizations), an exchange of views takes place on the political and socio-economic processes in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, recommendations are developed on coordinating the activities of the CSTO member states in the Afghan direction, joint measures to counter these threats and the post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan.
An important area of activity of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is crisis responding.
The issues of the formation and functioning of the CSTO crisis response system, to one degree or another are reflected in 17 existing documents. And this is not including the documents regulating the formation and functioning of the assets of the CSTO collective security system, designed to prevent (resolve) crisis situations. The main ones are the Regulation on the CSTO response to crisis situations and the Regulation on the adoption and implementation of collective decisions on the use of the assets of the CSTO collective security system adopted in 2010, the Regulation on the response of CSTO member states to emergencies of 2011, the CSTO Collective Security Strategy until 2025, approved by the heads of states in 2016.
In accordance with the CSTO normative legal base, the coordination of joint activities of the CSTO member states in responding to a crisis situation is carried out by the highest body of the Organization - the CSTO Collective Security Council.
Preparation of proposals for the use of the assets of the collective security system is carried out within the competence of the CMFA, the CMD and CSTO CSSC jointly with the CSTO member state, on the basis of an official request of which the issue of the use of the assets is being considered.
In the event of a threat to security, stability, territorial integrity, sovereignty of one or several CSTO member states, threats to international peace and security in order to take coordinated measures to timely eliminate the threat that has arisen at the suggestion of any member state within three days after addressing the Chairman of the Council immediately a Collective Security Council is convened and a mechanism for joint consultations is put in place.
In the event that an armed attack (aggression) is made against one or more CSTO member states, the Collective Security Council, on the basis of their official request, immediately decides on the use of the necessary assets, and also takes measures that it considers necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security in accordance with the UN Charter.
In order to monitor the military-political situation in the CSTO area of responsibility, identify the prerequisites for crisis, emergency situations and analyze the current situation, as well as organizational and informational and analytical support for the activities of the Collective Security Council, the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers, the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils Organization, the CSTO Permanent Council in October 2016, by the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council, the CSTO Crisis Response Center was established and is successfully functioning.
The purpose of military cooperation is to ensure the collective and national security of the member states of the Organization by maintaining, within the framework of the necessary sufficiency and readiness of the defense potential of each member state, the CSTO collective security system assets to carry out earmarked tasks in accordance with Articles 4 and 6 of the Collective Security Treaty of May 15, 1992, and timely response to possible challenges and threats to the national and collective security of the CSTO member states.
The state and prospects for the development of the CSTO collective security system assets at various stages of military development are presented in the following slides.
According to the Agreement on the procedure for the formation and functioning of the CSTO collective security system assets of December 10, 2010, they include:
associations, formations, military units and subunits of the national armed forces and other troops of the Parties, as well as special operations assets (groups of specialists) of the internal affairs bodies (police), internal troops, security agencies and special services, the formation of bodies authorized in the field of prevention and elimination the emergency consequences of the Parties, subordinate to the national governing bodies and used by the decision of the CSTO bodies;
coalition grouping of troops (forces);
regional (united) groupings of troops (forces);
groupings of united (joint) military systems.
The main tasks of the CSTO collective security system assets are:
prevention of the threat and holding off an armed attack (aggression) against one or several Parties, localization of armed actions and conflicts;
carrying out measures to counter challenges and threats to the security of the Parties, including the fight against international terrorism, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, weapons and ammunition, and other types of transnational organized crime;
implementation of measures to protect the population from the dangers arising from the conduct of hostilities or as a result of these actions, in the elimination of emergency situations and the provision of emergency humanitarian assistance;
strengthening the protection of state borders, as well as state and military facilities of the Parties;
conducting peacekeeping operations;
solving other tasks determined by the CSTO Collective Security Council.
Actually, they all follow from the goals and main directions of the activities of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The formation of the defense potential was carried out in stages.
In 2000, at the initial stage of its creation, regional groupings created on the basis of bilateral agreements were included in the assets of the collective security system.
Then, in 2001, in Central Asia, in connection with the events in the south of the Kyrgyz Republic and in order to stabilize the situation in the region, the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian Collective Security Region (CRDF CAR) were formed. They are designed to carry out tasks to ensure the military security of the states parties to the Collective Security Treaty of the Central Asian region, including to participate in repelling external military aggression and conducting joint counterterrorist operations.
They include separate units and subunits from the armed forces of the CSTO member states in the Central Asian region (the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan). The total number of personnel with standard weapons and equipment is about 5 thousand people. The CRDF group, depending on the nature of the threats, may have a different structure, composition and means of straightening, including aviation.
The next stage in the development and strengthening of the military component of the Organization was the creation of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (CRRF) in 2009.
The CRRF includes military contingents and formations of special forces of the CSTO member states with a total number of about 20 thousand people. They are capable of performing tasks of both military and special nature and are designed to respond promptly to challenges and threats to the security of the Organization's member states.
The composition of the CRRF is approved by the Collective Security Council on the basis of proposals from the CSTO member states. For recruiting the CRRF, the member states, in accordance with their national legislation, allocate military contingents and formations of special forces equipped with modern and compatible weapons and military (special) equipment.
Military contingents and formations of special forces of the sending member states of the Organization, pending a decision on deployment and their use, are under national jurisdiction.
Considering the participation of the CSTO in peacekeeping activities as an effective tool for strengthening its international positions, authority and political weight in world and regional affairs, the member states attach great importance to deepening cooperation in this area.
In 2007, the heads of the CSTO member states signed the Agreement on CSTO Peacekeeping Activities, which entered into force and was registered with the UN Secretariat in 2009.
In 2010, the formation of the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces (PF) was completed, numbering about 3 thousand servicemen of the armed forces and about 600 representatives of the internal affairs bodies of the Organization's member states. To carry out peacekeeping tasks, the CSTO member states have been assigned military, police (police) and civilian personnel on a permanent basis. The CSTO peacekeeping component was created according to the classical canons of the United Nations on the basis of the principles of Chapter VI of the UN Charter (mediation and maintenance of the achieved peace).
In accordance with the Agreement on CSTO Peacekeeping Activities, they can be used both in the CSTO space and beyond. In the first case, they are activated by the decision of the CSC, and in peacekeeping operations outside the territory of the member states they can participate under the mandate of the UN Security Council.
To participate in a peacekeeping operation, the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CPF CSTO) are being created from the Peacekeeping Forces. Their composition, structure and number are determined by the decision of the heads of the member states of the Organization for each peacekeeping operation separately, based on the tasks to be solved and the specific situation in the conflict zone.
In October 2012, the first joint peacekeeping training "Indestructible Brotherhood" was held on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which began to be held annually in the format of the Organization.
An important achievement of the allied military development was the adoption in December 2014 by the heads of the CSTO member states of the decision to create the Collective Air Forces of the Organization, including air force units of military transport (transport) and combat support aviation of the armed forces, internal affairs bodies (police), security bodies and special services, as well as bodies authorized in the field of prevention and elimination of the emergency consequences, in accordance with the national legislation of the CSTO member states. This was relevant and timely in order to increase the efficiency of transportation and ensure the actions of the assets of the collective security system of the Organization.
The composition of the CSTO Collective Air Forces is determined on the basis of proposals from the interested ministries and departments of the CSTO member states. Air force units held to the Collective Air Forces, prior to making a decision on their use, are kept under national jurisdiction at base airfields in the required degree of readiness to perform assigned tasks.
The preparation of the Troops (Collective Forces) of the Organization for the performance of earmarked tasks is carried out in accordance with the annual plans of joint operational and combat training activities. The main forms of training formations of the assets of the CSTO collective security system are joint trainings. The trainings are practicing options for possible actions, which will subsequently become the basis for making decisions on the use of the Troops (Collective Forces) in real conditions.
Since 2004, about 50 trainings with military contingents and formations of special purpose forces of various sizes have been held on the territory of the CSTO member states.
Representatives of foreign countries and international organizations are regularly invited to participate in these trainings as observers and participants.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization was recognized by the heads of state as the most dynamically developing and efficiently working regional organization in the post-Soviet space.
Not unimportant part was played and is playing the fact that within the framework of the CSTO from the very beginning, close attention was paid to the establishment within its framework of effective and mutually beneficial military-technical cooperation as an economic basis for military cooperation in general.
Military-technical cooperation and military-economic cooperation
Military-technical cooperation is one of the priority areas of military development within the Organization, governed by a special Agreement on the basic principles of military-technical cooperation between the states – parties to the Collective Security Treaty of May 15, 1992. The main principle of this cooperation is a preferential regime for mutual deliveries of military products between the CSTO member states at prices set by them for their own armed forces, as well as law enforcement agencies and special services.
The main areas of military technical cooperation are:
- coordinating the efforts of the CSTO member states in the field of equipping the assets of the collective security system with modern weapons and military equipment;
- establishment and improvement within the Organization of the procurement and supply system of military products on preferential terms;
- ensuring the technical and information compatibility of weapons and military equipment of the assets of the Organization's collective security system;
- creation of stocks of material resources to ensure the assets of the collective security system.
- provision of military-technical assistance to the member states of the Organization in the event of an armed attack (aggression) against them, the emergence of other external threats to their security, sovereignty and territorial integrity;
- formation of a unified system of training military personnel for the armed forces, other troops and military formations of the CSTO member states.
In addition, in 2011, within the framework of military-technical cooperation, the heads of the Organization member states approved an interstate program for equipping the CSTO CRRF with modern and compatible weapons of military and special equipment.
Military-economic cooperation is inextricably associated with military-technical cooperation.
The main goals of military-economic cooperation are:
- Achievement of such a level of interaction between the military-industrial complexes of the CSTO member states, which would ensure stability, invulnerability and development of their scientific-technical and production and technological potential in the face of possible challenges and external influences;
- the formation, in the interests of all CSTO member states, of a coordinated military-economic policy in the development and production of advanced weapons and military equipment, as well as maintenance, modernization, repair and disposal of military products.
In order to resolve issues of military-economic cooperation, the Interstate Commission on Military-Economic Cooperation has been established and is successfully operating. The Commission includes the Deputy Prime Ministers of the governments of the CSTO member states responsible for this area of work, and is headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. As part of its activities, work continued on the development of cooperation ties between defense enterprises of the member states with enterprises of the defense industry of the Russian Federation, the creation of service centers on the territory of the CSTO states for the maintenance and repair of weapons and military equipment. On a bilateral and multilateral basis, cooperation projects are being implemented between the member states of the Organization.
The Business Council is intended for analyzing and developing proposals for solving the most important problems in the field of military-economic cooperation affecting the interests of the financial and industrial communities of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states, determining the CSTO strategic goals in the field of military-industrial integration and ways of their implementation, preparing proposals on the normative legal support of interstate military-economic cooperation.
The Business Council considers issues and develops proposals and recommendations aimed at ensuring multilateral military-economic cooperation in the following priority areas:
- analysis of the state of integration processes in the military-industrial sphere and the development of proposals on the directions and forms of their development;
- creation of joint ventures and large interstate integrated structures;
- creation of favorable conditions for the organization and implementation of joint research and development and production programs in the field of weapons and military equipment;
- interaction of the military-industrial complexes of the CSTO member states.
The main form of the Business Council's activity is holding its own meetings and participating in meetings of the Interstate Commission for Military-Economic Cooperation of the CSTO.
In the CSTO member states, advertising and exhibition activities in relation to military, dual and special-purpose products and technologies are carried out in the form of participation of national organizations of defense-industrial (military-industrial) complexes in international exhibitions of military products held on the territories of the CSTO member states and territories of third countries. The joint exposition of the CSTO is a collection of national exhibition expositions. The total exhibition area of the CSTO joint exposition can be about 1000 square meters.
The work is carried out in accordance with the Agreement on cooperation in the field of advertising and exhibition activities in the field of military-economic cooperation between the CSTO member states of October 6, 2007.
For the purpose of interaction and cooperation of the Parties in organizing and holding international exhibitions, the Coordination Council of the authorized bodies of the CSTO member states on advertising and exhibition activities has been established. The main function of the Coordination Council is to jointly plan participation in international arms exhibitions and to create the most favored nation treatment for CSTO exhibitors, including the provision of exhibition space and other services on preferential terms. As a rule, meetings of the Coordination Council are held at international arms exhibitions.
The CSTO critical mission is the training and retraining of specialists in all areas of its activities. In order to address this mission, that is essential from the point of view of the development of allied relations, to ensure the possibility of solving joint combat missions, in May 2005, the heads of state developed and signed an Agreement on the training of military personnel for the member states of the Organization, which implies that:
training of military personnel is carried out in educational institutions of higher, secondary and additional vocational education and military units, which indicates not only the training of officers, but also junior specialists;
The parties are aimed at the formation and development of a unified system of training military personnel for the armed forces, other troops and military formations of the Organization’s member states according to agreed specialties and training programs.
Currently, the training of military personnel of the CSTO member states is carried out in 37 universities (of which 14 are academies) of the defense ministries of three states: the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Belarus. They meet practically all the needs of the Organization's member states in training military personnel for their needs on a gratuitous or preferential basis.
The annual recruitment of military students and cadets is more than 1,100 people. This is a stable rate over the past few years.
Training lasts 4-5 years for cadets and 2 years for students of academies, while at the universities of the Russian Ministry of Defense, training takes place jointly with the military personnel of the Russian Federation.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization has acquired an adequate potential for containing military threats; the multifunctional system of comprehensive security of the CSTO is successfully operating, aimed at countering both traditional and new challenges and threats.
Counteraction to transnational challenges and threats in the Organization is carried out on a systematic basis through the development of the anti-terrorist component of the collective security system, counteraction to the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as illegal migration, the formation of a safe information space, interaction in the field of national border control, protecting the population and providing humanitarian assistance in natural and man-made emergencies.
In the field of countering terrorism, priority is given to the practical implementation of a complex of operational and preventive measures to block the channels of recruitment, entry/exit of citizens of the Organization's member states to participate in terrorist activities and neutralize their resource base in the CSTO space under the code name "Mercenary".
Coordination of work in the format of the Organization for Countering Terrorism is carried out by the Working Group of Experts on the Fight against Terrorism and Extremism under the CSTO CSSC.
A single list of organizations recognized as terrorist in the CSTO format is being formed.
On a planned basis, the formations of the special forces of the CSTO CRRF for solving counter-terrorism tasks were being prepared.
On an ongoing basis, work is underway to deepen cooperation between the CSTO and the specialized anti-terrorist structures of the CIS, the SCO, the OSCE, the UN, interaction with which is regulated by the relevant memorandums.
Comprehensive counteraction to the spread of drugs is one of the priorities in the CSTO activities.
Within the framework of the Organization, a flexible system for coordinating interaction in the field of drug control, combating drug crime, prevention of non-medical consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, treatment and rehabilitation of drug users has been formed.
The key element in this system is the Coordination Council of the Heads of the Competent Agencies for Counteracting the Illicit Drug Trafficking of the CSTO Member States.
Cooperation with the specialized structures of international organizations is intensively developing, primarily with the UN, the OSCE, the EAG, the CIS and the SCO.
In 2011, a Statement of the Heads of State of the Collective Security Treaty Organization on the problem of the drug threat emanating from Afghanistan was submitted to the Security Council and the UN General Assembly.
Since 2003, the Coordination Council has been conducting active phases of the Regional Anti-Drug Operation “Channel”, in which not only law enforcement agencies of the member states participate, but observers from more than 20 countries and international organizations take part.
The CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces are involved in anti-drug activities.
On an ongoing basis, joint special tactical and special trainings of special forces of anti-drug departments, internal troops, internal affairs bodies and special services of the CSTO member states, held to the CSTO CRRF special forces, under the code name "Thunder", are held.
Educational, scientific and analytical work is being actively carried out by the basic educational institutions of the CSTO member states – the All-Russian Advancing Training Institute and the Siberian Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
The interaction of the CSTO member states in the field of state border protection is aimed, first of all, at increasing the effectiveness of countering terrorist and drug threats emanating from the territory of Afghanistan. For this purpose, a draft List of Additional Measures has been developed to reduce tensions in the Tajik-Afghan border area, and work has been organized to prepare a Special Interstate Policy to strengthen the Tajik-Afghan border.
A new impetus to interaction on border issues was given by the Statement of the Heads of State of the CSTO member states adopted on October 14, 2016, on ensuring the protection of the state borders of the Organization’s member states.
In order to develop cooperation with international and regional organizations on border issues, on April 11, 2018, a Protocol on cooperation in the border sphere was signed between the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Coordination Service of the Council of Border Troops Commanders.
The border services of the CSTO member states, within their competence, solve practical tasks to identify and eliminate channels of illegal migration within the framework of the CSTO Regional Operation "Illegal", work out the issues of countering terrorism and extremism within the framework of preventive measures carried out in the CSTO format under the code name "Mercenary", As well as contribute to the collective fight against drug trafficking by participating in the permanent CSTO Regional Anti-Drug Operation “Channel”.
Within the framework of the CSTO, a system of collective response to emergency situations has been formed, which provides for the joint development of proposals for providing assistance to the injured state and sending the necessary forces, funds and humanitarian aid to the emergency areas.
In order to coordinate the interaction of ministries and departments of the CSTO member states in the field of prevention and elimination of the consequences of emergencies, by the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council, the Coordination Council for Emergency Situations of the CSTO Member States was created, the members of which are the heads of ministries and departments of the states in the field of prevention and elimination of the consequences of emergencies.
Joint trainings of rescue units and special tactical trainings with units held to the special forces of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces under the code name "Rock" are systematically conducted.
The development of a collective system for countering illegal migration is regularly considered at meetings of the charter bodies of the Organization and by the heads of state in the course of sessions of the CSTO Collective Security Council.
On the initiative of the Kyrgyz Republic, in the fall of 2018, at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, a Joint Statement was adopted on topical issues in combating illegal migration.
Since 2008, with the organizational support of the CSTO Secretariat, the Coordination Council of the Heads of the Competent Authorities of the CSTO Member States on Combating Illegal Migration has been working efficiently. It was formed in accordance with the decision of the Collective Security Council as a subsidiary body of the CSTO (from 2008 to 2019, 22 meetings of the Coordination Council were held).
One of the main activities of the Competent Authorities of the CSTO Member States on Combating Illegal Migration is the organization of joint preventive measures and special operations to counter illegal migration, including human trafficking, under the code name "Illegal". The CSTO regional operation "Illegal" contributes to the stabilization of the migration situation on the territory of the Organization's member states, including in anticipation of major international and sports events in the countries; elimination of illegal migration channels, as well as other unlawful acts related to illegal migration.
Since 2009, in the CSTO format, on a planned basis, a complex of coordinated operational and preventive measures has been carried out to counter crime on the common user network Internet and in the information space of the CSTO member states under the code name operation “PROXY”.
The main efforts and joint activities of specialized operating units of national state security bodies, internal affairs (police) of the CSTO member states in the course of the operation are focused on identifying the facts of crimes in the field of information technology and countering the dissemination of information in the national segments of the Internet that is detrimental to national and allied interests. In the course of the operation, numerous facts were revealed of the use of the worldwide information network in the interests of:
- deliberate dissemination of information prohibited by national legislation, which includes the ideas of terrorism, religious fundamentalism and extremism;
- propaganda of war, calls for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, riots and other violent actions;
- organizations and groups of terrorist and extremist nature, in order to attract new members to their ranks;
- illegal distribution of narcotic substances;
- illegal migration;
- attacks on objects of critical information infrastructure;
- Attempts to infect the computer networks of government bodies and manage malicious software in order to steal restricted access information;
- the activities of individuals, criminal groups and organizations in the field of high technologies, which include attempts to computer hacking of information systems and resources of state bodies, social and financial structures and, as a result, disorganization and damage to their activities; creation and distribution of malicious computer programs.
The results of the operation confirm the conclusion about the constantly increasing destructive information impact on the CSTO member states and indicate an increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of the response to such an impact on the part of the competent authorities of the CSTO member states.
PARTNERSHIP AND OBSERVATION
Dear colleagues,
In the presented material, you had the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the History of the Organization formation, its Structure and the available Mechanisms for the implementation of the tasks facing the CSTO.
At the same time, the Organization, being confident that in order to solve the problems facing the world community in countering new challenges and threats, it is necessary to consolidate the potentials and efforts of all states, international and regional organizations, openly expresses its readiness to involve organizations and individual states in the mechanisms worked out over the years of the CSTO existence, as well as to cooperate in the interests of strengthening international and regional security through synergy of potentials, experience and knowledge.
To this end, the Organization's Collective Security Council, relying on the established organizational structures, mechanisms of practical interaction, the accumulated experience of cooperation with leading international organizations and individual countries, approved a package of documents on the legal registration of the CSTO Partner and CSTO Observer statuses on November 8, 2018, which opens a new stage in improving the system her external relations.
By adopting this package of documents, international organizations and individual states get a real opportunity to combine their own capabilities with the CSTO potential in order to work together to form a just, democratic world order, to solve problems affecting international, regional or (in respect to states) national security.
The Regulations on the CSTO Partner and the Observer under the CSTO provide for different levels of interaction and responsibility of the participants in the cooperation process.
The status of a Partner is determined by a special Regulation and qualifies as a state or an international organization that shares the goals and principles of the CSTO, wishing to establish and develop relations of mutually beneficial cooperation with the Organization in areas of mutual interest, with the commitment to participate in practical activities of the CSTO.
The Partner status can be granted to a state or an international organization interested in practical cooperation with the CSTO in some or all areas of the Organization's activities.
Moreover, the Partner is offered a choice of the widest range of areas of such cooperation:
- foreign policy coordination on international and regional security problems;
- crisis response;
- military cooperation;
- military-technical cooperation;
- military-economic interaction;
- peacekeeping;
- fight against international terrorism and extremism;
- counteraction to organized transnational crime, including illegal production and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as their precursors, illegal arms trafficking, illegal migration;
- ensuring information security;
- emergency response;
- others.
Presumed modes of interaction with the CSTO are diverse and tailored to the Partner's individual interests:
- joining to the international treaties concluded within the CSTO framework, if it is possible according to the relevant treaty. Or via making a separate international treaty between the Partner and all states, parties of the relevant CSTO treaty;
- participating at the invitation of open meetings of the Council, advisory and executive bodies, the Permanent Council, as well as subsidiary bodies, the CSTO working groups with consultative capacity;
- receiving, as required, through the permanent working bodies of the Organization, documents and decisions adopted by the Council, advisory and executive bodies, the Permanent Council, as well as subsidiary bodies, the CSTO working groups, if appropriate restrictions on their distribution are not established;
- distributing the materials and documents;
- by common consent of the CSTO member states, participating directly in the trainings of the assets of the collective security system conducted within the framework of the Organization, as well as in operations and preventive measures.
A state that is applying for the Partner status has to meet the following strict requirements:
- be a member of the United Nations, to fulfill faithfully their obligations under the UN Charter, to comply with the generally recognized principles and norms of international law;
- have diplomatic relations with all CSTO member states;
- its international obligations in the field of security should not contradict the relevant international treaties and other documents adopted within the framework of the CSTO;
- express readiness to assist the Organization in solving certain tasks assigned to the CSTO;
- must not be in a state of armed conflict with another state or states;
- must not have territorial disputes with neighboring states;
- must not be in a state of armed internal conflicts;
- speak in support for resolving international disputes and conflicts exclusively by peaceful means;
- speak in support for resolving domestic, interethnic, territorial and political disputes in accordance with generally recognized principles and norms of international law, including the provisions of the UN Charter, as well as the Helsinki Final Act;
- must not be under the sanctions of the UN Security Council for violation of generally recognized principles and norms of international law;
- refrain from force application or the threat of it;
- comply with international regimes for the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
- support international efforts in countering terrorism, illicit trafficking of drugs and their precursors, other modern challenges and threats to international security and stability.
International organizations, that are applying for the Partner status has to meet the following criteria and conditions:
- the activities of an international organization
should be carried out in strict accordance with the UN Charter, decisions of
the UN Security Council and generally recognized principles and norms of international
law;
- the directions of the activities of the international organization should correspond to the directions of the CSTO activities;
- adhere to the policy of strengthening confidence building measures, ensuring international peace, security and stability;
- speak in support for resolving international disputes and conflicts exclusively by peaceful means, in compliance with the generally recognized principles and norms of international law;
- speak in support for resolving domestic, interethnic, territorial and political disputes in accordance with generally recognized principles and norms of international law, including the provisions of the UN Charter, as well as the Helsinki Final Act;
- comply with international regimes for the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
- support international efforts in countering terrorism, illicit trafficking of drugs and their precursors, other modern challenges and threats to international security and stability.
As in relation
to a Partner, the status of an Observer
under the CSTO is determined by a special Regulation, which indicates that
the Observer is a state or an international organization interested in studying
the open regulatory framework, experience and practice of the CSTO without
undertaking obligations to participate in practical CSTO events, which have
received this status in the order determined by the specified Regulation.
Candidates for the Observer status are offered a choice of the following areas of interaction:
foreign policy coordination on international and regional security problems;
- crisis response;
- military cooperation;
- military-technical cooperation;
- military-economic interaction;
- peacekeeping;
- fight against international terrorism and extremism;
- counteraction to organized transnational crime, including illegal production and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as their precursors, illegal arms trafficking, illegal migration;
- ensuring information security;
- emergency response;
- others.
The Observer has the right:
- to attend open meetings of the Council sessions, meetings of the CFM, the CMD, the CSSC when considering issues determined by the Protocol, without participating in the discussion and decision making;
- to take part in open meetings of the CSTO Permanent Council, as well as subsidiary bodies, the CSTO working groups when considering issues defined by the Protocol and issues of mutual interest;
- to attend the trainings of the assets of the collective security system conducted within the framework of the Organization, as well as in operations and operational and preventive measures;
- to participate in scientific and expert meetings (forums, conferences, seminars), exhibitions and other events related to areas that are the subject of interaction with the Observer;
- The Observer has the right to speak at open sessions of the CSC, the CFM, the CMD, the CSSC, the Permanent Council, as well as subsidiary bodies, the CSTO working groups, scientific and expert meetings on issues that are the subject of interaction, receive documents and materials distributed through the CSTO permanent working bodies among the participants of the events (if these documents and materials are not restricted for distribution).
- The Observer has the right to distribute, by common consent of the CSTO member states, through the permanent working bodies of the Organization, its documents and materials on issues within the competence of the CSTO and issues of mutual interest.
Meetings or consultations in the format “the CSTO member states and the Observer” or “permanent working body and the Observer” are held by their mutual consent. Based on the results of the meeting or consultations, a protocol may be adopted, which is signed by representatives of the CSTO member states (or the CSTO permanent working bodies) and the Observer at the same level at which these meetings and consultations took place.
The Observers establish and maintain official contacts with the Organization through the CSTO permanent working bodies through their diplomatic and other missions.
A state, that is applying for the Observer status has to meet the following requirements:
- be a member of the United Nations, fulfill faithfully their obligations under the UN Charter, comply with the generally recognized principles and norms of international law;
- have diplomatic relations with all CSTO member states;
- speak in support for resolving international disputes and conflicts exclusively by peaceful means;
- speak in support for resolving of domestic, interethnic, territorial and political disputes in accordance with generally recognized principles and norms of international law, including the provisions of the UN Charter, as well as the Helsinki Final Act;
- must not be under the sanctions of the UN Security Council for violation of generally recognized principles and norms of international law;
- comply with international regimes for the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
It clearly
follows from the above provisions that the CSTO Partner has broad powers,
including, in particular, the right to join international treaties concluded
within the CSTO, to participate and speak with deliberative functions in
meetings of the Organization's bodies, to directly participate in the trainings
of the assets of the collective security system within the CSTO framework, as
well as in operations and operational and preventive measures.
The rights of the Observer under the CSTO, in turn, are reduced mainly to the opportunity to attend events held by the CSTO. The granting of the status of a CSTO Partner or an Observer under the CSTO is formalized by signing the relevant Protocols. Typical drafts of these documents were also approved by the CSTO CSC Decision of November 8, 2018. On their basis, an individual version of the Protocol is agreed upon for each candidate for one of the specified statuses.
The adoption of a package of documents on the legal registration of the CSTO Partner and the CSTO Observer statuses demonstrates the openness of the Organization, its readiness to coordinate activities with all powerful forces to strengthen confidence and security in the Eurasian region, and invite your states and international and regional organizations to consider the opening opportunities for cooperation.
