Speech by the CSTO Secretary General at the 12th Meeting of the Secretaries of the CIS Security Councils

On November 7, the CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov took part in the 12th meeting of secretaries of security councils of the CIS member states in Moscow. Imangali Tasmagambetov and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu met on the margins of the event.

Welcoming speech by the CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov:

Dear Mr. Sergei Kuzugetovich!

Dear Secretaries of Security Councils!

On behalf of the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, I welcome the organizers and participants in the twelfth meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. First of all, I should like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Mr. Sergei Kuzugetovich Shoigu, for inviting me to such an important meeting. The relevance of this format of meetings cannot be overemphasized.

Dear colleagues!

The military and political situation along the perimeter of the CSTO area of responsibility remains complex. In a number of regions directly adjacent to the CSTO area of responsibility, the conflict potential remains at a high level. The situation in Eastern Europe and the Middle East is of serious concern. The internal political processes in Afghanistan remain complex and tangible risks remain in the South Caucasus.

The American-German decision to deploy “long-range” means of destruction on the territory of Western Europe has created a threat of a renewed nuclear missile arms race on the continent and in the world as a whole.

The concentration of NATO armed forces and information warfare centers on the borders of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation continues. The strategic situation worsened after Finland and Sweden joined the North Atlantic Alliance.

Economic, financial and military support for Ukraine is increasing in order to continue the armed confrontation with Russia. The danger of serious incidents at nuclear power plants, fraught with catastrophic consequences for vast territories, including those outside the war zone, has increased multiply.

Challenges to international stability such as the rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence for military purposes, the mass production and lack of clear regulation of lethal autonomous weapons systems capable of hitting targets on the ground, in the air, on water and underwater without human intervention, the active use of the Internet to disrupt domestic political stability and damage the economic, military and other interests of other countries, the intensification of military and space activities, and the increasing use of the Internet as a means of disrupting domestic political stability and damaging the economic, military and other interests of other countries continue to intensify.

The CSTO is taking measures to preserve stability in the Eurasian space and to ensure the security of the Organization's member states.

The practical application of collective efforts in countering cross-border challenges and threats is carried out mainly as part of planned operational and preventive measures. In 2024, an anti-terrorist complex of measures was successfully implemented under the conditional name “Mercenary-2024”, the purpose of which is to block channels for recruiting and sending citizens of the CSTO member states to participate in terrorist activities.

Operation “Channel“ is being actively implemented to suppress the distribution of narcotic drugs. In June and October of this year, the CSTO operations “Channel - Far Eastern Raid” and “Channel - Vanguard” were carried out with the International Coordination Headquarters stationed in Vladivostok and Dushanbe respectively.

On August 8 of this year, at a meeting of the working group of the Coordinating Council of the Heads of the Competent Authorities for Countering Illicit Drug Trafficking of the CSTO member states, the issue of conducting a CSTO anti-drug operation in the second half of 2025 under the conditional name "Channel - Western Dvina” with the international coordination headquarters for its management located in the city of Vitebsk was discussed.

Operation “Illegal” is aimed at countering illegal migration. In the period from June 3 to June 9 this year in the area of responsibility of the CSTO member states its first stage was conducted under the conventional name “Illegal Traffic”, and in the period from September 30 to October 6 this year - the second stage of the operation under the conventional name “Illegal Cordon”.

Cooperation continued to be developed within the framework of the operation to combat crimes in the sphere of information technology (Operation “PROXY”). Modern challenges and threats in the context of interstate relations dictate the need to strengthen international information security. Today, in such a dynamically developing world, our countries are constantly confronted with a whole complex of problems in the field of ensuring information security. And an exchange of views on the main areas of cooperation of the CIS member states in this area is simply necessary.

On October 11 of this year, in Moscow, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation interdepartmental consultations of the CSTO member states on international information security were held in order to establish interdepartmental cooperation and coordination of states in the sphere of international information security, including on international platforms (the UN, the CIS, the SCO, the OSCE, etc.) on the development of new principles and norms of international law in relation to the security of the use of information and communication technologies.

Further work is being done to coordinate activities and cooperation in preventing and countering biological threats in order to establish a reliable system for ensuring the biological security of the Organization's member states.

Dear colleagues!

The danger of the spread of terrorist activity, illegal migration and illicit trafficking in weapons and drugs in the Central Asian region persists. Despite the severity of the problem, we are managing to maintain control in this part of the CSTO area of responsibility.

The Organization continues to monitor the challenges and threats associated with the “Afghan hub” and to coordinate efforts to counter them using the capabilities of the Working Group on Afghanistan under the CSTO Ministerial Council, where, among others, representatives of the CIS ATC and the Coordination Service of the CIS Council of commanders of Border troops take part. The growing interest in the work of the Working Group by specialized structures of the United Nations, the CIS, the SCO and other international organizations should also be noted.

On November 28, this year, at the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council, we will submit for approval by the heads of state the draft the CSTO Special Interstate Policy for strengthening sections of the Tajik-Afghan Border. The relevant draft decision on this issue has been approved and signed by the members of the CSTO Ministerial Council, Collective Security Council and Collective Security Council at meetings of the Organization's statutory bodies in May-June 2024. The Programme includes specific measures aimed at ensuring the security of the southern part of the Organization's area of responsibility.

Dear colleagues!

In the course of today's meeting we will consider a wide range of issues, first of all, related to the preservation of historical memory of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and joint measures of the Commonwealth member states to combat manifestations of neo-Nazism in the post-Soviet space.

In the draft statement of the Collective Security Council, the CSTO member states call for the memory of the unparalleled courage of the multinational Soviet people to be held sacred. It is our sacred duty as States that defeated Nazism to preserve for present and future generations the truth about the common struggle to liberate the world from Nazism and to prevent the recurrence of the ideology of hatred, extremism, discrimination on ethnic, racial or religious grounds and other inhuman acts.

At the forthcoming session of the Collective Security Council, the heads of the Organization's member states will be presented with a Plan of action to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Realizing the unifying agenda, the CSTO Secretariat is preparing a commemorative publication for the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, dedicated to the heroic deeds of Soviet people in 1941-1945.

I am convinced that today's meeting will be held in a warm and informal atmosphere and will contribute to the building up of bilateral ties, strengthening friendship and trust between our countries.

In conclusion, I would like to wish you, dear colleagues, fruitful work together.

Thank you for your attention.