Collective Security Council (CSC)- the highest body of the Organization.
The Council considers fundamental issues of the Organization's activities and makes decisions aimed at achieving its goals and objectives, and also ensures coordination and joint activities of member states to achieve these goals. The Council is composed of heads of member states. In the period between sessions of the CSC, issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the implementation of decisions taken by the bodies of the Organization are dealt with by the Permanent Council, which consists of authorized representatives appointed by member states.
Council of Foreign Ministers (CMFA)- advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordination of interaction between member states in the field of foreign policy.
Council of Defense Ministers (CMD)- advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordinating interaction between member states in the field of military policy, military development and military-technical cooperation.
Military Committee- created on December 19, 2012 under the Council of Ministers of Defense of the Collective Security Treaty Organization for the purpose of promptly considering issues of planning and use of forces and means of the collective security system of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and preparing the necessary proposals of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils (CSSC)- advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of ensuring their national security.
Secretary General of the Organization is the highest administrative official of the Organization and manages the Secretariat of the Organization. Appointed by decision of the SSC from among the citizens of the member states and accountable to the SSC.
Secretariat of the Organization- a permanent working body of the Organization for the implementation of organizational, informational, analytical and advisory support for the activities of the Organization’s bodies.
A permanent working body of the Organization, responsible for preparing proposals and implementing decisions on the military component of the CSTO.
The SKB has the right to create working and auxiliary bodies of the Organization on a permanent or temporary basis.
Collective Security Treaty Organizations
(reference Information)
1. History of creation, basics of activity, organizational structure
The organization of the Collective Security Treaty originates in the conclusion of the Collective Security Treaty, which was signed in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) on May 15, 1992 by the heads of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Later Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia joined it (1993). The Treaty entered into force upon completion of national ratification processes on April 20, 1994. The key article of the Treaty is the fourth, which states that:
“If one of the participating states is subjected to aggression by any state or group of states, this will be considered as aggression against all state parties to this Treaty.
In the event of an act of aggression against any of the participating States, all other participating States will provide him with the necessary assistance, including military assistance, and will also provide support with means at their disposal in the exercise of the right to collective defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.”
In addition, Article 2 of the Treaty establishes a regional consultation mechanism in the event of a threat to the security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of one or more member states, or a threat to international peace and security, and also provides for the conclusion of additional agreements regulating certain issues of cooperation in the field of collective security between participating states.
The collective security agreement was concluded for five years with the possibility of subsequent extension. In 1999, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Tajikistan signed the Protocol on the Extension of the Collective Security Treaty (link), on the basis of which a new composition of participating countries was formed and an automatic procedure for extending the Treaty for five-year periods was established.
Further development of cooperation in the Treaty format required qualitative institutional changes, which led to the signing on October 7, 2002 in Chisinau (Moldova) of the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which from the point of view of international law is a regional international security organization.
In accordance with Article 3 of the CSTO Charter, the goals of the Organization are to strengthen peace, international and regional security and stability, and protect on a collective basis the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states.
Based on Article 5 of the CSTO Charter, the Organization is guided in its activities by the following principles: priority of political means over military means, strict respect for independence, voluntary participation, equality of rights and obligations of member states, non-interference in matters falling under the national jurisdiction of member states.
To date, the CSTO format has developed an extensive legal framework regulating the activities of the Organization in all main areas of security. To date, 43 international treaties have been concluded and, for the most part, ratified on the most fundamental issues of interstate interaction in the field of collective security, 173 decisions of the Collective Security Council have been signed on certain areas of cooperation, approval of plans and programs of work on specific problems of collective security, resolution of financial, administrative and personnel issues.
The CSTO bodies, their powers and competence, as well as the order and procedures of interaction are determined by the CSTO Charter and the decisions of the Collective Security Council adopted in its development.
1. The statutory bodies exercise political leadership and make decisions on the main issues of the Organization’s activities.
The Collective Security Council is the highest body of the Organization and consists of the heads of member states. It considers fundamental issues of the Organization's activities and makes decisions aimed at achieving its goals and objectives, and also ensures coordination and joint activities of member states to achieve these goals. The Chairmanship of the Council is transferred in Russian alphabetical order, unless the Council decides otherwise.
The Council of Foreign Ministers is the Organization's advisory and executive body for coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of foreign policy.
The Council of Defense Ministers is the Organization's advisory and executive body on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of military policy, military development and military-technical cooperation.
The Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils is an advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of ensuring their national security and countering modern challenges and threats.
The Parliamentary Assembly is a body of inter-parliamentary cooperation of the Organization, which in various forms considers issues of the CSTO’s activities, the situation in its area of responsibility, the implementation of decisions of the statutory bodies and tasks for their legal support, and discusses the practice of ratifying international treaties concluded within the CSTO.
The CSTO Permanent Council deals with issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the implementation of decisions taken by the CSTO bodies in the period between sessions of the Collective Security Council. It consists of authorized representatives appointed by member states in accordance with their domestic procedures.
2. Permanent working bodies.
The CSTO Secretariat provides organizational, informational, analytical and advisory support for the activities of the Organization’s statutory bodies. It carries out the preparation of draft decisions and other documents of the Organization’s bodies. The Secretariat is formed from among the citizens of the Member States on a quota rotation basis (officials) in proportion to the shared contributions of the Member States to the budget of the Organization and citizens of the Member States hired on a competitive basis under a contract (employees). The location of the Secretariat is Moscow, Russian Federation.
The CSTO Joint Headquarters is responsible for preparing proposals and implementing decisions on the formation of an effective collective security system within the Organization, the creation of coalition (regional) groupings of troops (forces) and their command and control bodies, military infrastructure, the training of military personnel and specialists for the armed forces, and the provision of necessary weapons and military equipment.
3. Auxiliary bodies that can be created on a permanent or temporary basis to solve the problems facing the CSTO:
Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities to Combat Illicit Drug Trafficking;
Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities to Combat Illegal Migration;
Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities for Emergency Situations;
Interstate Commission on Military-Economic Cooperation;
Working Group on Afghanistan under the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers;
Working group on information policy and information security under the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils.
2. Political cooperation
In accordance with Article 9 of the CSTO Charter, a mechanism of regular political consultations operates in the Organization’s format, during which assessments of the situation in the CSTO area of responsibility are discussed, common positions are developed and joint approaches to current problems on the international agenda are sought, and collective statements are agreed upon. Meetings are held at the levels of foreign ministers, their deputies, members of the Permanent Council under the CSTO, as well as experts. Particular attention is paid to coordinating the collective steps of member states in international organizations, for which periodic meetings of authorized representatives of the CSTO member states at the UN, OSCE, NATO, EU and other international structures are convened, which makes it possible to more effectively, on a collective basis, coordinately defend common interests in these international structures. Informal meetings of foreign ministers have become a practice on the eve of OSCE Ministerial Council meetings and sessions of the UN General Assembly. Positive experience has emerged as a result of the use of collective instructions to authorized representatives of member states at international organizations.
Cooperation with other international organizations at the working level is developing. Memorandums (protocols) on cooperation were signed with the UN, SCO, CIS, EurAsEC, Union State, Colombo Plan, SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure, Anti-Terrorism Center and the Coordination Service of the Council of Commanders of the CIS Border Troops.
Representatives of the Secretariat regularly take part in the work of relevant units of the UN and OSCE. The CSTO Secretary General regularly presents the Organization's approaches to certain current issues on the international agenda during events held under the auspices of the UN, OSCE and other associations. In turn, evidence of the serious focus of these organizations on developing cooperation with the CSTO were the speeches of their secretaries general, Ban Ki-moon, Lamberto Zannier at meetings of the Permanent Council of the CSTO.
A mechanism has been established for the exchange of views on a wide range of issues of mutual interest between the highest administrative officials of the EurAsEC, CSTO, CIS and SCO, which allows, at a practical level, to optimize the distribution of functions between regional organizations whose responsibilities include ensuring security in the Eurasian states.
In 2010, measures were taken to improve the Organization's crisis response system. It is complemented by a political mechanism for monitoring and preventing possible conflicts. An algorithm has been developed and tested for the functioning of the CSTO bodies and member states for the prompt provision of material, technical and humanitarian assistance, information and political support in the event of crisis situations in the area of the Collective Security Treaty. Obligations for mutual, including military, support also extend to cases of armed attack by illegal armed groups and gangs. The possibility of making decisions in a limited format by interested member states is being introduced. A legal basis has been created for emergency consultations and decision-making, including through video conferencing.
3. Military construction
Despite the importance and priority of collective political action to solve the problems facing the Organization, the specificity of the CSTO is the presence of a capable force potential, ready to respond to a wide range of traditional and modern challenges and threats in the Eurasian region.
At the moment, the military (security) component of the Organization includes the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces and Peacekeeping Forces formed on a broad coalition basis, as well as regional groupings of forces and means of collective security: Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian Region, Regional Russian-Belarusian Grouping of Troops (Forces) Eastern European region, United Russian-Armenian grouping of troops (forces) of the Caucasus region. The United Air Defense System of Russia and Belarus is in operation, and a Russian-Armenian regional air defense system is being created.
CSTO CRRF (more than 20 thousand personnel) are a component of constant readiness and include highly mobile contingents of the armed forces of member states, as well as formations of special forces, which unite units of security agencies and special services, internal affairs agencies and internal troops, and emergency response agencies. In December 2011, the heads of member states decided to include special units of anti-drug departments in the CRRF.
Collective rapid response forces are a universal potential capable of solving problems of resolving conflicts of varying intensity, conducting special operations to suppress terrorist attacks, violent extremist actions, manifestations of organized crime, as well as to prevent and eliminate emergency situations.
In accordance with the Agreement on Peacekeeping Activities, the CSTO Peacekeeping Forces (about 3.6 thousand personnel) were created. On a planned basis, they are trained and prepared to solve specific peacekeeping tasks. In 2010, the heads of member states expressed their readiness , using the peacekeeping potential of the CSTO to assist the United Nations, contribute to the prevention of armed conflicts and the peaceful resolution of emerging conflict and crisis situations.
Contingents of regional groupings, as well as the CSTO CRRF forces, are scheduled to carry out joint combat training. Exercises and other preparatory activities are regularly conducted. An interstate target program has been approved to equip the CSTO CRRF with modern, interoperably compatible weapons and equipment. The Russian Federation plans to allocate significant financial resources for these purposes.
Steps are being taken to create integrated military systems: integrated air defense systems in Central Asia and other regions, a system for managing forces and means of collective security, an information and intelligence system, and a technical cover system for railways.
The organization, along with the implementation of its statutory goals at the regional level, solves problems of promoting the development of the national potentials of its member states.
In accordance with the Agreement on the Basic Principles of Military-Technical Cooperation concluded by the member states, the supply of weapons and military equipment to the CSTO allies at preferential prices (as for their own needs) has been organized. The agreement played an important role in the fact that over the 10 years of its practical implementation, supplies of military products in the CSTO format increased almost tenfold, turning from a political factor into a full-fledged economic factor, into a serious basis for the formation of a common arms market for the CSTO. The implemented approaches brought benefits to the CSTO member states amounting to hundreds of millions of US dollars, and a significant part of the supplies began to consist of modern and sophisticated weapons and military equipment.
Military-technical cooperation is complemented by the mechanism of military-economic cooperation, which involves the implementation of joint R&D programs in the CSTO format, modernization of weapons and military equipment - with appropriate financial support for these activities. The main instruments of interaction in this area are the Interstate Commission on Military-Economic Cooperationand the Business Council under the MKVES, within the framework of which issues of maintaining the specialization of the defense industry industries of the member states are being resolved, proposals are being worked out to create joint ventures for the development, production, disposal and repair of equipment and weapons.
An integral element of cooperation is joint training of personnel for the armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special services of member states. Every year, on a free or preferential basis, in accordance with the existing agreements in the CSTO, only in the Russian Federation are enrolled: in military universities - up to a thousand citizens of member states, in law enforcement and civilian universities - up to 100 people. In training specialists in the field of security currently involved several dozen relevant educational institutions.
4. Countering modern challenges and threats
After the decision was made in 2006 to give the CSTO a multifunctional character, the Organization has been increasing its contribution to countering regional challenges and threats. To coordinate national activities, the necessary coordination mechanisms have been created and are functioning successfully. The main goal of the CSTO is to achieve practical interaction between the relevant services, to ensure the possibility of everyday cooperation of ordinary employees, and to obtain real returns from the efforts made. To this end, collective special operational and preventive operations are regularly carried out under the auspices of the CSTO.
An important practical area of the Organization’s efforts is combating drug trafficking. Under the auspices of the Organization the Coordination Council heads of competent authorities to combat drug trafficking conducts a regional anti-drug operation of continuous action"Channel", the purpose of which is to identify and block drug smuggling routes, suppress the activities of clandestine laboratories, prevent the diversion of precursors into illegal circulation, and undermine the economic foundations of the drug business. The operation involves employees of drug control agencies, internal affairs (police), border guards, customs, state (national) security and financial intelligence services of member states of the Organization. Representatives of about 30 states that are not members of the CSTO, including the United States, European Union countries, a number of Latin American states, as well as experts from international organizations: OSCE, Interpol and Europol, are taking part in the operation as observers.
In total, during the “Channel” operations, about 245 tons of drugs were seized from illicit trafficking, including more than 12 tons of heroin, about 5 tons of cocaine, 42 tons of hashish, as well as over 9,300 firearms and about 300 thousand pieces of ammunition.
In February 2011, the heads of the CSTO member states adopted a Statement on the problem of the drug threat emanating from Afghanistan. Work continues in the UN Security Council to promote the initiative to give Afghan drug production the status of a threat to peace and security.
Under the leadership of the Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities to Combat Illegal Migration, coordinated operational and preventive measures and special operations are being carried out to combat illegal migration, which involve joint efforts to block the channels of illegal migration of third-country citizens and suppress the criminal activities of traffickers and organized groups "Illegal" .
Joint efforts are being made in the field of ensuring international information security. Interaction between special units of security agencies and internal affairs agencies is actively developing in order to suppress crimes in the field of modern information technologies within the framework of Operation Proxy.
By decision of the President of the Russian Federation, a Center for Modern Information Technologies was created on the basis of Moscow State University, where training of specialists in the field of information security is organized. The last batch of 19 students - representatives of member states - completed their training at the Center on December 14, 2012.
5. Information work and interparliamentary cooperation
Inter-parliamentary cooperation plays an important role in the activities of the Organization. Since 2006, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly has been in operation (link), which, in fact, is the second supporting structure after the instruments of the executive branch, ensuring stability in the activities of the CSTO.
The CSTO PA is an important means of political cooperation of the CSTO. The flexibility of parliamentary work allows, when necessary, to show greater efficiency and openness when responding to current events in international life, when establishing contacts with our partners in the West. Traditionally, in order to analyze the military-political situation in the regions of collective security, visiting meetings of the standing commissions of the Parliamentary Assembly are held with a subsequent report to the PA Council.
The CSTO Parliamentary Assembly also plays a significant role in ensuring common approaches to the harmonization of legislation, working to bring together the legal fields of member states, primarily on issues of the main activities of the Organization, namely: drug trafficking, illegal migration, the fight against terrorism and organized crime.
The CSTO carries out intensive information and analytical work, actively interacts with the media, journalistic organizations and press services of the authorities of member states in order to complement efforts in the field of information cooperation, countering the propaganda of violence, the ideology of racism and xenophobia. The CSTO print organ is published, which is the periodic information and analytical magazine “Allies”. MTRK "Mir" organizes a weekly television program of the same name. Radio Russia broadcasts a monthly program “International Politics - CSTO”.
Experts from the CSTO Institute conduct fundamental and applied research on a wide range of issues related to the Organization. The CSTO Institute Bureau operates in Armenia, and its representative office has been opened in Ukraine. The CSTO Scientific Expert Council operates, within the framework of which, with the involvement of experts from leading scientific centers of the member states, current problems of forming a collective security system in modern geopolitical conditions are considered.
To strengthen the position of the CSTO, reform of the collective forces for the rapid deployment of the Central Asian region is being carried out. These forces consist of ten battalions: three from Russia, two from Kazakhstan, the rest of the CSTO countries are represented by one battalion. The total number of personnel of the collective forces is about 4 thousand people. The aviation component (10 planes and 14 helicopters) is located at the Russian military air base in Kyrgyzstan.
It is worth noting that many politicians assess the prospects of the CSTO in a very ambiguous way, for example, Alexander Lukashenko called the further activities of the CSTO unpromising, since the organization does not respond to a “coup d'etat in one of the member countries” (meaning the events in Kyrgyzstan). However, Belarus views the activities of the CSTO as promising, but not in military terms:
We do not consider the Collective Security Treaty Organization as a military bloc. It is an international regional organization that deals with a wide range of security issues. In the field of view of the CSTO, in addition to military threats, there are issues of countering international terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal migration, transnational organized crime, collective response to emergency situations, humanitarian disasters [which, thank God, have not happened so far], a wide range of threats in the information sphere and the fight against cybercrime. This is not a declarative task that is written down in some statutory documents, these are real specific algorithms for collective response to potential challenges and threats.
We had misunderstandings with the Russian leadership. But we are brothers and friends! And everything that concerns the CSTO is jokes aside. Here we have never had any misunderstandings,” said the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with participants in a meeting of the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly on October 26.
Goals and objectives[edit | edit wiki text]
The task of the CSTO is to protect the territorial and economic space of the countries participating in the treaty through the joint efforts of armies and auxiliary units from any external military-political aggressors, international terrorists, as well as from large-scale natural disasters.
Activities of the CSTO in the fight against the drug threat[edit | edit wiki text]
One of the important activities of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is to counter modern challenges and threats. Very serious attention in this work is paid to the fight against drug trafficking. CSTO Charter
Almost all member states of the Organization, due to their geographical location, are at the forefront of the fight against cross-border drug crime, since the so-called “Northern Route” of Afghan drug trafficking passes through their territories. “In addition to these traditional drug threats, law enforcement agencies have recently registered the desire of drug traffickers to push synthetic drugs produced in Europe to the markets of Russia and Central Asia. This is confirmed by the seizure of fairly large quantities of these drugs in some cities in this region.”
“Given the seriousness of the problem, issues of increasing the efficiency and improving anti-drug activities are under the constant control of the heads of CSTO member states. Particular emphasis is placed on the development and use of collective measures of an organizational, legal and practical nature.” On June 23, 2003, by decision of the SSC, the Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities for Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking of the CSTO Member States and its Regulations were created.
“Every year, under the auspices of the CSTO, a comprehensive operational and preventive operation is carried out under the code name “Channel”. The operation involves employees of drug control, state security, customs, police and border guards of the Organization’s member states.”
The purpose of the operation is to identify and block drug smuggling routes from Afghanistan, block international and interregional channels of synthetic drugs from European countries, suppress the activities of clandestine laboratories, prevent the diversion of precursors into illegal circulation, and undermine the economic foundations of the drug business.
On September 5, 2008 in Moscow, in order to further develop the “Channel” project, at a session of the Collective Security Council, by the decision of the Presidents of the CSTO member states, the operational-preventive operation “Channel” was given the status of a Regional anti-terrorist operation of the CSTO of permanent action. This decision will allow us to respond more quickly and flexibly to any changes in the operational environment related to drug trafficking, and to solve practical problems at several levels. Namely, at the first level it will be two-three-four-party operations of a regional and subregional nature, carried out in separate drug-dangerous areas within the framework of a single plan.
“In the interests of combating drug trafficking, working contacts have been established between the CSTO Secretariat and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and a regular exchange of information has been organized with this international structure. In addition, relationships have been established and are being developed with the Regional Communications Center for Law Enforcement of the World Customs Organization for the CIS countries RILO-Moscow, as well as with the Operational Committee of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Mutually beneficial cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking with the OSCE is intensifying, and a dialogue is being conducted in the format of the “Paris-2 – Moscow-1” process. In 2012, drug smuggling from Afghanistan was discussed in Astana. The countries that are members of the CSTO intend to make every effort to combat drug trafficking.
The formation of a collective security system in the post-Soviet space began almost immediately after the collapse of the USSR. Thus, on February 14, 1992, a decision was made to create the Council of Ministers of Defense (CMO) and the Main Command of the United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS Joint Forces), and on March 20 of the same year, the Agreement on Joint Forces for the transitional period was signed.
Thus, an attempt was made to preserve a common defense space and transform the former Soviet Army into a common armed force for all members of the CIS. However, in parallel with this, diametrically opposite trends developed and intensified - many former USSR republics began to form their own armies. This actually led to the division and nationalization by the newly independent states of the armed forces, equipment and property of the Soviet Army stationed on their territories.
Thus, already in the spring of 1992 it became clear that it was impossible to maintain a centralized CIS army under unified control. There were many reasons for this: from the strengthening of centrifugal forces and the collapse of the military command and control system to the conflicts that flared up between the former republics of the USSR. At the same time, the leadership of most republics had a growing understanding that qualitatively new forms and mechanisms of integration in the military-political sphere were needed, which would make it possible to create a more effective security system with significantly lower economic, scientific and technical costs, and reduce the escalation of armed conflicts in the post-Soviet space. It was with these factors in mind that on May 15, 1992, in Tashkent, representatives of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan concluded a Collective Security Treaty. During September - December 1992, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Belarus acceded to the Treaty.
On April 20, 1994, immediately after the submission of instruments of ratification by the signatory states, the Treaty entered into force. On November 1, 1995, the agreement was registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations, in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of which the CST was concluded.
After the Treaty entered into force, a number of important legal documents were adopted that promoted the process of military
political integration in various areas within its competence. Among them, it is worth noting the “Declaration of the States Parties to the CST” and the “Concept of Collective Security of the States Parties to the CST” adopted in 1995. In the same year, the “Plan for the Implementation of the Concept of Collective Security” and the “Main Directions for Deepening Military Cooperation” were adopted, which set the task of organizing regional collective security systems. The “Plan for the second stage of the formation of a collective security system”, approved in 1999, already provided for the formation of regional coalition groupings of troops in the Eastern European, Caucasian and Central Asian directions.
At the Session of the Collective Security Council on April 2, 1999 in Moscow, the “Protocol on the extension of the Collective Security Treaty” was signed and then ratified. The Protocol provided for the automatic extension of the Treaty for successive five-year periods.
A qualitatively new stage in the development of the Treaty was opened by the “Memorandum on increasing the effectiveness of the CST and its adaptation to the modern geopolitical situation” adopted by the Collective Security Council in 2000, the implementation of which aimed the Treaty at reflecting new challenges and threats to regional and international security.
At the same time, the “Regulations on the procedure for making and implementing collective decisions on the use of forces and means of the collective security system”, “Model of a regional collective security system”, “Basic provisions of the coalition strategy” were approved, designed to form an organizational and legal basis for the activities of the CST in the field of ensuring on a collective basis for the security of its member states.
Of fundamental importance in this regard were the “Agreement on the status of formations of forces and means of the collective security system” and “Protocol on the procedure for the formation and functioning of forces and means of the collective security system of the CST member states” signed in 2000-2001.
The logical step in the formation and development of the military component of the CST was the creation, by decision of the CSC in 2001, of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Central Asian Collective Security Region, which were staffed by four battalions from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (one from each state) with a total strength of one and a half thousand people with a military command authority.
At the same time, the creation and improvement of the activities of the CST advisory bodies - the Councils of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils - was underway. An efficient Secretariat of the SSC was created, a consultation process was established both at the level of the SSC, the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Council of Defense, and with the participation of deputy ministers of foreign affairs and defense, experts from the participating states, and their authorized representatives to the Secretary General of the SSC.
Finally, in the fall of 2002, an epoch-making event occurred in the life of the Collective Security Treaty - a new international organization was created on the basis of the treaty. On October 7, 2002, the presidents of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty signed two important documents on May 15, 1992 - the “Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization” and the “Agreement on the Legal Status of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.” Almost a year later, on September 18, 2003, these documents came into force. According to them, the CSTO participants are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan. On December 2, 2004, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution granting the Collective Security Treaty Organization observer status in the UN General Assembly.
The official goal of the CSTO was to jointly prevent, and, if necessary, eliminate a military threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the participating states. To counter new challenges and threats to national, regional and international security, Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan agreed to intensify activities in this area, taking specific actions aimed at decisively combating international terrorism. Thus, in the fall of 2003, cooperation under the Treaty was transformed into a full-fledged international intergovernmental regional organization, which is designed to play a leading role in ensuring security in the Eurasian space in general, and the CIS space in particular.
In fact, the decision to transform the Collective Security Treaty into an international organization was a response to the challenges of the changing geopolitical environment. There is an urgent need to adapt the Treaty to the dynamics of regional and international security and counter new challenges and threats. The main task of the created Organization was the coordination and deepening of military-political interaction, the establishment of multilateral structures and cooperation mechanisms designed to ensure, on a collective basis, the national security of the participating states, and to provide the necessary assistance, including military assistance, to the participating state that has become a victim of aggression.
It was fundamentally important to include in the CSTO Charter a provision that one of the main goals of the Organization and the directions of its activities is the coordination and unification of efforts in the fight against international terrorism and other non-traditional security threats. At the same time, the obligation of member states to coordinate and coordinate their foreign policy positions on international and regional security issues was recorded.
The creation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization was also an important political event in the life of the states parties to the Treaty. There is no doubt that membership in the new regional organization really helps to strengthen their political weight and positions in the international community and ensure stability and security at the international and regional levels.
In terms of wording, the fundamental documents of the CSTO are quite strong. In accordance with the Treaty, the participating states ensure their security on a collective basis. Article 2 of the Treaty states: “In the event of a threat to the security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of one or more participating states, or a threat to international peace and security, the participating states will immediately activate a mechanism of joint consultations in order to coordinate their positions and adopt measures to eliminate the emerging threat."
At the same time, Article 4 provides: “In the event
committing an act of aggression against any of the participating states, all other participating states will provide him with the necessary assistance, including military assistance, and will also provide support with the means at their disposal in order to exercise the right to collective defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.” At the same time, the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization provides for the mandatory implementation of decisions made and sanctions for their failure to comply.
Thus, the main document of the Collective Security Treaty Organization expresses the purely defensive orientation of the military policy of the participating states, with priority given to political means of preventing and eliminating military conflicts. In its content, the Treaty is primarily a factor of military-political deterrence.
The states parties to the Treaty especially emphasize that they do not consider anyone as an enemy and advocate mutually beneficial cooperation with all states. The Treaty remains open to accession by other states that share its goals and principles. Individual states or international organizations are granted observer status in the CSTO by the Charter.
The very essence of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the principles and forms of cooperation laid down in its Charter, as well as the stated positions of the member states, predetermined the real opportunity for it to become an integral part of the system of common and comprehensive security for Europe and Asia. “In the event of the creation of a collective security system in Europe and Asia,” stated in Article 1 of the Treaty, “and the conclusion of collective security agreements for this purpose, to which the contracting parties will steadily strive, the participating states will enter into immediate consultations with each other with a view to making the necessary changes to this Agreement." This fundamental point is constantly confirmed in subsequent documents of the CST.
The transformation of an interstate treaty into a full-fledged international organization could not but affect the internal structure of the latter. Back on April 28, 2003, at the session of the CSC in Dushanbe, regulations were developed regulating the activities of the organization and the structure of the CSTO was clearly formalized. The competence of the main bodies of the Collective Security Treaty has expanded significantly - the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Foreign Ministers and the CSSC have now become not only advisory, but also executive bodies.
At the moment, the structure of the CSTO is as follows. The highest body of the Organization is the Collective Security Council (CSC). The Council considers fundamental issues of the Organization's activities and makes decisions aimed at achieving its goals and objectives, and also ensures coordination and joint activities of member states to achieve these goals. The Council is composed of heads of member states.
In the period between sessions of the CSC, the Permanent Council, which consists of authorized representatives appointed by the Member States, deals with the coordination of interaction between member states in the implementation of decisions taken by the bodies of the Organization. The advisory and executive body of the Collective Security Treaty Organization on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of foreign policy is the Council of Foreign Ministers (CMFA).
In turn, the advisory and executive body of the CSTO on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of military policy, military development and military-technical cooperation is the Council of Defense Ministers (CMD). The place of the CSTO advisory and executive body on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of ensuring their national security is given to the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils (CSSC).
The highest administrative official of the organization is the Secretary General, who manages the CSTO Secretariat. The Secretary General of the organization is appointed by decision of the SSC from among the citizens of the member states and is accountable to the Council.
Finally, in order to intensify work to strengthen the military component of the CSTO, the CSTO Joint Headquarters was formed.
During its short but eventful history, the Collective Security Treaty Organization has more than once given occasion to talk about itself. At the initial stage, the Treaty contributed to the creation of national armed forces of the participating states and provision of adequate external conditions for their independent state building.
The capabilities of the Treaty were directly used in the fall of 1996 and summer of 1998 in connection with the dangerous developments in Afghanistan in close proximity to the borders of the Central Asian states parties to the CST, in order to prevent attempts by extremists to destabilize the situation in this region.
In 1999 and 2000, as a result of promptly implemented measures by the CST member states, with the participation of Uzbekistan, the threat created by large-scale actions of armed groups of international terrorists in the south of Kyrgyzstan and other areas of Central Asia was neutralized.
The CST also played an important military-political role in the process of achieving national reconciliation in Tajikistan. Moreover, in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, within the framework of the CSTO, this country is receiving significant political, military and military-technical assistance.
In general, we can say with confidence that the Collective Security Treaty Organization is a significant international regional organization in the vastness of Eurasia. Moreover, the CSTO is a Eurasian organization not only in the spatial-geographical, but also in the political-legal sense due to the universality of its principles and practical goals, as well as through the direct participation of its member states in the relevant European and Asian security structures, in
first of all, the OSCE and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
In conclusion, it should be noted that after the collapse of the USSR, the balance of power in the world was disrupted, and a new security architecture has not yet been created. Moreover, the situation in the post-Soviet space, which was tightly controlled by Moscow twenty years ago, cannot now be called stable either. In this regard, Russia simply needs a powerful integration group consisting of allied countries, capable of adequately responding to the challenges of our time. In this regard, the CSTO really contributes to solving the problems of national security of the Russian Federation on its front lines, creating, in fact, under the auspices of Russia, a vast political and defense space and a common military-technical potential.
In a broader sense, the Treaty, especially with the creation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, can help strengthen Russia’s positions and the general allied collective positions of the CSTO member states in the world, and the formation of a significant Eurasian pole of security and stability.
The long-term goal of Russia's policy towards the CSTO, and, if possible, the entire CIS, is to create a community of states capable of becoming in the 21st century one of the world's leading centers of sustainable political, socio-economic, scientific and technical development, a zone of peace, national and social harmony . Here, military-political factors are closely intertwined with the necessary internal reforms.
Maintaining stability along the perimeter of its own borders, creating and strengthening a belt of good neighborliness, peace and security is one of the key priorities of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation. Moreover, this factor is of particular importance with the emergence of new challenges and threats and the increased use of Russian territory by international terrorists and drug traffickers to achieve their cross-border goals. In these conditions, it seems that the CSTO can become the structure that will best suit Russia’s national interests in a rapidly changing international situation.
Name:
Collective Security Treaty Organization, CSTO
Flag/Coat of Arms:
Status:
military-political union
Structural units:
Collective Security Council (CSC). The Council is composed of heads of member states. The Council considers fundamental issues of the Organization's activities and makes decisions aimed at achieving its goals and objectives, and also ensures coordination and joint activities of member states to achieve these goals.
The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (CMFA) is the Organization's advisory and executive body on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of foreign policy.
The Council of Defense Ministers (CMD) is the Organization's advisory and executive body on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of military policy, military development and military-technical cooperation.
The Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils (CSSC) is an advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of ensuring their national security.
The Secretary General of the Organization is the highest administrative official of the Organization and manages the Secretariat of the Organization. Appointed by decision of the SSC from among the citizens of the member states and is accountable to the Council. Currently, he is Nikolai Bordyuzha.
The Secretariat of the Organization is a permanent working body of the Organization for the implementation of organizational, informational, analytical and advisory support for the activities of the bodies of the Organization.
The CSTO Joint Headquarters is a permanent working body of the Organization and the CSTO Council of Defense, responsible for preparing proposals and implementing decisions on the military component of the CSTO. From December 1, 2006, it is planned to assign to the joint headquarters the tasks performed by the command and the permanent operational group of the collective forces headquarters.
Activity:
Ensuring security, integration of armed forces
Official languages:
Participating countries:
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Story:
On May 15, 1992, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan signed a collective security treaty (CST) in Tashkent. Azerbaijan signed the agreement on September 24, 1993, Georgia - on September 9, 1993, Belarus - on December 31, 1993.
The agreement entered into force on April 20, 1994. The contract was for 5 years and could be extended. On April 2, 1999, the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed a protocol to extend the agreement for the next five-year period, but Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan refused to extend the agreement, and in the same year Uzbekistan joined GUAM.
At the Moscow session of the CST on May 14, 2002, a decision was made to transform the CST into a full-fledged international organization - the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). On October 7, 2002, the Charter and Agreement on the Legal Status of the CSTO were signed in Chisinau, which were ratified by all CSTO member states and entered into force on September 18, 2003.
On December 2, 2004, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution granting the Collective Security Treaty Organization observer status in the UN General Assembly.
On August 16, 2006, a decision was signed in Sochi on the full accession (restoration of membership) of Uzbekistan to the CSTO.
On February 4, 2009, in Moscow, the leaders of the countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) approved the creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force. According to the signed document, the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces will be used to repel military aggression, conduct special operations to combat international terrorism and extremism, transnational organized crime, drug trafficking, as well as to eliminate the consequences of emergency situations.
On April 3, 2009, a representative of the CSTO Secretariat stated that Iran could in the future receive the status of an observer country in the CSTO.
On June 14, 2009, a session of the Collective Security Council of States was held in Moscow, by decision of which the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces were to be created. However, Belarus refused to participate in the session due to the outbreak of a “milk war” with Russia, considering that without stopping actions that undermine the foundations of the partners’ economic security, making decisions on other aspects of security is not possible. Nevertheless, the decision to create the CRRF at the summit was made by the remaining member countries, but it turned out to be illegitimate: in accordance with paragraph 1 of Rule 14 of the Rules of Procedure of the bodies of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, approved by the Decision of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization on documents, regulating the activities of the Collective Security Treaty Organization of June 18, 2004, the non-participation of a member country of the organization in meetings of the Collective Security Council, the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers, the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils means the lack of consent of the member country of the organization to the adoption of decisions considered by these bodies and, accordingly, the lack of consensus for making decisions in accordance with Rule 14. Thus, the documents considered on June 14 at the CSTO summit in Moscow cannot be considered adopted due to the lack of consensus. In addition to Belarus, the document on CRRF was not signed by Uzbekistan. At the summit in Moscow, the document was approved by five of the seven countries included in the organization: Russia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
On October 2, 2009, news agencies spread the news that the Republic of Belarus had joined the agreement on the CRRF based on a statement by the President of the Republic of Belarus. All procedures for signing documents on the CRRF have now been completed. However, already on October 6 it became clear that Belarus had not signed the agreement on the CRRF. In addition, Alexander Lukashenko refused to observe the final phase of the CSTO rapid reaction force exercises, which took place on October 16, 2009 at the Matybulak training ground in Kazakhstan.
In June 2010, in connection with the situation in Kyrgyzstan associated with the confrontation between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek diasporas, which actually led Kyrgyzstan to a state of civil war, the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils was urgently convened. The KSSF was convened to resolve the issue of military assistance to Kyrgyzstan, which consisted in the introduction of CRRF units into the country. The president of the transition period of Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbaeva, also addressed the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev with this request. It should be noted that the President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiev previously made a similar call. Then, after the CSTO refused to assist in resolving the situation in a CSTO member state, the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko sharply criticized this organization. . Meanwhile, the CSTO helped Kyrgyzstan: organized the search for the instigators of the riots and coordinated cooperation to suppress the activities of terrorist groups that actually influenced the situation from Afghanistan, the fight against the drug mafia operating in the south of Kyrgyzstan, control of all information sources working in the south of the country. Some experts believe that the CSTO did the right thing in not sending CRRF forces to Kyrgyzstan, as this would have further aggravated the interethnic situation in the country.
June 28, 2012. Tashkent sent a note notifying the suspension of Uzbekistan’s membership in the CSTO.
Collective Security Council (CSC)- the highest body of the Organization.
The Council considers fundamental issues of the Organization's activities and makes decisions aimed at achieving its goals and objectives, and also ensures coordination and joint activities of member states to achieve these goals.
The Council is composed of heads of member states.
In the period between sessions of the CSC, issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the implementation of decisions taken by the bodies of the Organization are dealt with by the Permanent Council, which consists of authorized representatives appointed by member states.
Council of Foreign Ministers (CMFA)- advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordination of interaction between member states in the field of foreign policy.
Council of Defense Ministers (CMD)- advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordinating interaction between member states in the field of military policy, military development and military-technical cooperation.
Military Committee - created on December 19, 2012 under the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization for the purpose of promptly considering issues of planning and use of forces and means of the collective security system of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and preparing the necessary proposals to the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils (CSSC)- advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of ensuring their national security.
Secretary General of the Organization is the highest administrative official of the Organization and manages the Secretariat of the Organization. Appointed by decision of the SSC from among the citizens of the member states and accountable to the SSC.
Secretariat of the Organization- a permanent working body of the Organization for the implementation of organizational, informational, analytical and advisory support for the activities of the Organization’s bodies.
The SKB has the right to create working and auxiliary bodies of the Organization on a permanent or temporary basis.
CSTO Joint Headquarters- a permanent working body of the Organization and the Council of Defense of the CSTO, responsible for preparing proposals and implementing decisions on the military component of the CSTO.
Collective Security Treaty Organizations(reference Information)
1. History of creation, basics of activity, organizational structure
The organization of the Collective Security Treaty originates in the conclusion of the Collective Security Treaty, which was signed in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) on May 15, 1992 by the heads of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Later Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia joined it (1993). The Treaty entered into force upon completion of national ratification processes on April 20, 1994. The key article of the Treaty is the fourth, which states that:
“If one of the participating states is subjected to aggression by any state or group of states, this will be considered as aggression against all state parties to this Treaty.
In the event of an act of aggression against any of the participating States, all other participating States will provide him with the necessary assistance, including military assistance, and will also provide support with means at their disposal in the exercise of the right to collective defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.”
In addition, Article 2 of the Treaty establishes a regional consultation mechanism in the event of a threat to the security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of one or more member states, or a threat to international peace and security, and also provides for the conclusion of additional agreements regulating certain issues of cooperation in the field of collective security between participating states.
The collective security agreement was concluded for five years with the possibility of subsequent extension. In 1999, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Tajikistan signed the Protocol on the Extension of the Collective Security Treaty (link), on the basis of which a new composition of participating countries was formed and an automatic procedure for extending the Treaty for five-year periods was established.
Further development of cooperation in the Treaty format required qualitative institutional changes, which led to the signing on October 7, 2002 in Chisinau (Moldova) of the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which from the point of view of international law is a regional international security organization.
In accordance with Article 3 of the CSTO Charter, the goals of the Organization are to strengthen peace, international and regional security and stability, and protect on a collective basis the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states.
Based on Article 5 of the CSTO Charter, the Organization is guided in its activities by the following principles: priority of political means over military means, strict respect for independence, voluntary participation, equality of rights and obligations of member states, non-interference in matters falling under the national jurisdiction of member states.
To date, the CSTO format has developed an extensive legal framework regulating the activities of the Organization in all main areas of security. To date, 43 international treaties have been concluded and, for the most part, ratified on the most fundamental issues of interstate interaction in the field of collective security, 173 decisions of the Collective Security Council have been signed on certain areas of cooperation, approval of plans and programs of work on specific problems of collective security, resolution of financial, administrative and personnel issues.
The CSTO bodies, their powers and competence, as well as the order and procedures of interaction are determined by the CSTO Charter and the decisions of the Collective Security Council adopted in its development.
1. The statutory bodies exercise political leadership and make decisions on the main issues of the Organization’s activities.
The Collective Security Council is the highest body of the Organization and consists of the heads of member states. It considers fundamental issues of the Organization's activities and makes decisions aimed at achieving its goals and objectives, and also ensures coordination and joint activities of member states to achieve these goals. The Chairmanship of the Council is transferred in Russian alphabetical order, unless the Council decides otherwise.
The Council of Foreign Ministers is the Organization's advisory and executive body for coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of foreign policy.
The Council of Defense Ministers is the Organization's advisory and executive body on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of military policy, military development and military-technical cooperation.
The Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils is an advisory and executive body of the Organization on issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the field of ensuring their national security and countering modern challenges and threats.
The Parliamentary Assembly is a body of inter-parliamentary cooperation of the Organization, which in various forms considers issues of the CSTO’s activities, the situation in its area of responsibility, the implementation of decisions of the statutory bodies and tasks for their legal support, and discusses the practice of ratifying international treaties concluded within the CSTO.
The CSTO Permanent Council deals with issues of coordinating the interaction of member states in the implementation of decisions taken by the CSTO bodies in the period between sessions of the Collective Security Council. It consists of authorized representatives appointed by member states in accordance with their domestic procedures.
2. Permanent working bodies.
The CSTO Secretariat provides organizational, informational, analytical and advisory support for the activities of the Organization’s statutory bodies. It carries out the preparation of draft decisions and other documents of the Organization’s bodies. The Secretariat is formed from among the citizens of the Member States on a quota rotation basis (officials) in proportion to the shared contributions of the Member States to the budget of the Organization and citizens of the Member States hired on a competitive basis under a contract (employees). The location of the Secretariat is Moscow, Russian Federation.
The CSTO Joint Headquarters is responsible for preparing proposals and implementing decisions on the formation of an effective collective security system within the Organization, the creation of coalition (regional) groupings of troops (forces) and their command and control bodies, military infrastructure, the training of military personnel and specialists for the armed forces, and the provision of necessary weapons and military equipment.
3. Auxiliary bodies that can be created on a permanent or temporary basis to solve the problems facing the CSTO:
Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities to Combat Illicit Drug Trafficking;
Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities to Combat Illegal Migration;
Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities for Emergency Situations;
Interstate Commission on Military-Economic Cooperation;
Working Group on Afghanistan under the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers;
Working group on information policy and information security under the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils.
| Membership: | Armenia Belarus Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Russia Tajikistan |
| Joint Headquarters: | Moscow |
| Organization type: | Military-political union |
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