November 30 A session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s Collective Security Council (CSC) was held in Minsk. The CSC includes the heads of the CSTO member states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The session of the Collective Security Council was held in a narrow composition and in the format of a plenary session. The CSTO Secretary General, Yuri Khachaturov, took part in it.

(Photo gallery of the CSTO CSC)

         The heads of state discussed trends in the development of the international situation and the measures taken to strengthen the collective security of the CSTO. The Declaration of the Heads of the CSTO Member States was adopted in connection with the 25th anniversary of the Collective Security Treaty and the 15th anniversary of the creation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

The statements "On the situation in Syria and around it", "On support of mediation efforts of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement", "On joint measures to strengthen the defense potential of the States members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization" were adopted. The Collective Security Council also approved the Plan for implementation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization's Collective Security Strategy for the period until 2025 and adopted the Protocol Decision "On the legalization of the institution of partnership in the CSTO format".

Considering that in 2017-2018 The presidency of the CSTO from the Republic of Belarus was transferred to the Republic of Kazakhstan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev presented the priorities of Kazakhstan for the presidency in the next intersessional period at the CSC CSTO.  

 The CSTO Secretary General, Yuri Khachaturov, in his Annual Report informed about the issues of the CSTO activities in 2016-2017. and the implementation of decisions taken at the previous session of the CSC of the CSTO.

    At the session of the Collective Security Council, due attention was paid to the issues of strengthening military cooperation as one of the important components of collective security in ensuring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Organization's member states. Issues of further improving the military component of the Organization were considered.

    The CSTO Secretary General, Yuri Khachaturov, summing up the CSC session, which emphasized that the Plan of joint measures for operational and combat training of the CSTO Collective Forces in 2017 was completed by one hundred percent. "In addition, on the territory of Tajikistan, we conducted an unscheduled large-scale exercise with the Collective Forces of the CSTO. In total, more than twelve thousand people took part in all the exercises held in Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. crisis response heads of state made a number of decisions that we implement in 2018, "he said.

   Yury Khachaturov noted that in the context of strengthening the defense potential of the CSTO member states, the mechanism for implementing the Agreement on the basic principles of military-technical cooperation between the Collective Security Treaty states was further developed. At the session, the CSTO CSC signed a Protocol on amending this Agreement aimed at improving the pricing mechanism for military products.

    The CSTO CSC adopted decisions on the approval of the “On the size and structure of the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization” and “On the distribution of quota posts for the CSTO Joint Staff”.

    One of the key activities of the CSTO is the collective efforts of member states in such an important and topical area as information security. The interaction of the CSTO member states in this area has noticeably intensified in recent years. The accumulated experience, new challenges in this area are reflected in the Agreement on cooperation between the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in the field of information security signed during the current session.

     Taking into account the urgency of the issue and the need to strengthen countering illegal migration from third countries, the heads of the CSTO member states adopted the CSC CSTO Resolution “On Improving Measures to Counter Illegal Migration, which provides for giving Operation Nelegal the status of a permanent CSTO regional operation 

For reference: the effectiveness of measures taken to counter illegal migration is confirmed by the results of such work in the current year.

“Illegal - 2017” was held in two stages - from May 22 to June 2 and from

September 25 to October 6.

During the operation:

1. 157 999 violations of immigration laws were revealed.

2. Imposed fines of more than 8 million US dollars.

3. Detained 1584 persons who were on the international wanted list.

4. 4,673 criminal cases were initiated for organizing illegal migration and 119 criminal cases for trafficking in persons.

5. More than 19 thousand criminal cases were initiated for other crimes identified during the operation “Unlegal-2017”, including related:

- with illegal drug trafficking - 3929 cases;

- illicit arms trafficking - 698 cases.

   The CSTO CSC adopted decisions on the approval of the “On the size and structure of the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization” and “On the distribution of quota posts for the CSTO Joint Staff”.

     Decisions were also taken by the CSTO CSC on the emblem and flag of the Organization and the establishment of the heraldic sign of the formations of the forces and means of collective security.

     The CSTO CSC approved the Organization’s budget for 2018.

      A total of 21 documents were signed.

The heads of the CSTO member states expressed special appreciation to Nikolai Nikolayevich Bordyuzha, thanks to whose efforts as the CSTO Secretary General from 2003 to 2016, the Collective Security Treaty Organization became an effective tool for ensuring the security of our states. For his significant contribution to the cause of the formation and development of the CSTO, Nikolay Nikolayevich Bordyuzha was awarded the Medal of Honor of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, First Class.

      Before the session of the CSTO CSC, a joint meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers of Defense and the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils was held, during which the draft Agenda of the upcoming meeting of the CSTO CSTO and documents submitted to the session of the CSTO Collective Security Council were approved. (Photo Gallery SMID-SMO-KSSB)

The session was attended by Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff.

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CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov

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