By Vestnik Kavkaza
On the eve of the New Year, the Russian Foreign Ministry posted on its website a list of major, according to Russian diplomats, foreign policy events of 2013. Among them there is the fact that "new impetus was received by the cooperation within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) . Measures were taken to build capacity of the Collective Rapid Reaction Forces of the CSTO. The mechanisms of the preparation of CSTO peacekeeping forces were perfected. During the year a number of joint statements on the most pressing issues on the international agenda were made, among them - preventing an arms race in outer space, the situation in Syria and around it and the opposition to the Afghan drug threat . "
The situation on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan is a concern for experts who have noticed a significant increase in drug trafficking with the constant growth of heroin production in Afghanistan in recent years. Now we are talking about the fact that the CSTO countries should provide border guards in Tajikistan with weapons, military and special equipment, which is especially important for the normalization of the situation on the Tajik borders after the withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
As for Collective Rapid Reaction Forces (RRF), then equipping them with new equipment and weapons will cost about 33 billion rubles. According to Valery Semerikov, Deputy Secretary General of the CSTO, “When we looked at the question of equipping RRF with modern armaments and military equipment, it was unanimously decided that this problem can be solved only by creating an interstate target program. This program has been prepared, adopted and approved by the heads of our states". According to Semerikov, the program is ready to be signed by the heads of the CSTO member states: "To date, proposals for funding and all the way to the signing of all the documents are ready, I think that in the near time the relevant decisions will be taken, and in 2014 we will start implementing this plan. In general, the whole program needs about 33 billion rubles".
“We - the Joint Staff and all of us - we are focused on solving the problems which were put forward by the presidents, who identified them as priority problems. These are the creation of a sustainable system of management of our forces and weapons, the further increase of the combat potential of all forces and of collective security, and the formation of an air force of the CSTO. At the moment, we are working on these priorities, consultations are being conducted, we are coordinating with our colleagues, all the member states of the CSTO. I think that in the near future we will prepare and present approved documents for consideration to the Council of Ministers of Defence and to the Collective Security Councils”, he said.
