“NATO has to cooperate with such organizations as the CSTO”

By Vestnik Kavkaza

People in all states members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan) “know well the CSTO, except for Russia, unfortunately,” Nikolai Bordyuzha, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, told in an interview to Vesntik Kavkaza. He also tried to fill the gap at a press conference.

- Please tell us about the interaction of the CSTO with other integration structures.

- Interaction is organized with the OSCE, the SCO, of course, with the CIS, EurAsEC. We work with some agencies that specialize in security issues. And most importantly, we have built a very successful collaboration with departments of the UN Secretariat in all directions. We plan to establish contacts with corresponding subdivisions of the UN; we have fairly warm relations with the Department of Peacemaking Operations. Now we should establish contacts, as they could include the forces on the register, could estimate their resources and correspondence to UN norms; after this we could use these peacemaking forces on a UNSC mandate, if a certain consolidated decision of the CSTO is made.

In any case, we consider interaction with international organizations as one of the most important areas in terms of our political activity. And it really gives us a lot both in terms of evaluation of our activities and from the point of view of joint efforts to strengthen security or to address specific security issues.

- Please tell us about the expert support of the CSTO.

- We interact with the experts of our states. Regularly throughout the year we hold meetings, we discuss the most current general issues of global and regional policy, security issues. We have a panel of experts of the CSTO which consists of the heads of major research centers. We test all of our decisions, among others, on this panel of experts. Oh, and one last thing: we have recently created the so-called Analytical Association, which included, if I'm not mistaken, some 40 research centers and research institutions in general, dealing with policy and security issues. And with the help of this Analytical Association we can make an assessment of a given situation and formulate proposals, in any case, the use of several of these tools allows us being confident enough to get absolutely objective information on those events that are taking place in international relations.

Speaking about peacemakers in Karabakh and Transdniestria, Bordyuzha stated: “We have no such task. In Transdniestria peacemakers of the RF are present, they fulfil their tasks successfully. As for Karabakh, you know that it has a special status, and a decision can be made only under agreement of the two states. Anyway, we have never discussed the possibility of sending CSTO peacemakers to the territory of Karabakh. Probably it is connected with the fact that we have only recently founded the peacemaking corps, and now they are undergoing a period of joint military training.

As for the CRDF and their equipment program, it has been adopted by the presidents. There is an approved list of armaments which should be exported within the program. At the moment we specify terms of providing armaments to the CRDF. Today there are no obstacles for equipping the CRDF with modern arms and machinery.”

Commenting on the security problem in the context of approaching Ukraine with the EU, Bardyuzha said: “For us, Ukraine’s choice is its independent right. We don’t consider relations or improvement of relations, the association of Ukraine with the EU as a threat to CSTO. You understand clearly that this is impossible. It can cooperate with the EU. The point is in certain problems – the problem of narcotics, the problem of illegal migration, the problem of information influence on society and the information networks of Ukraine. And so on. There are many topics which concern Ukrainian society that can only be solved through joint efforts, coordinated steps. We are ready. For example, Iran is not a member of the CSTO and is not an observer. However, we successfully cooperate with it in the struggle against Afghan narcotics. All the members of the CSTO cooperate with NATO, and Russia most intensively. We don’t consider cooperation with NATO as a threat.

“Moreover, we have suggested many times cooperation between NATO and our organization, as we could provide mutual security and prevent threats to our countries. So, I don’t think cooperation with NATO can be a threat to third countries. We believe that we are a self-sufficient organization; we have potential, goals. For us, cooperation with NATO is not essential. We suggest cooperation for improving the efficiency of NATO and the CSTO’s work. For instance, NATO has to cooperate with such organizations as the CSTO in the Afghan sphere. It is directed at saving people’s lives, I don’t mention providing stability in states. We have big plans for developing our organization, and we are implementing them. When NATO is ready to cooperate with us we will consider the possibility of it. Unfortunately, today we cannot see it. We will work independently,” Bordyuzha said.