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Author : N. Bordyuzha
Secretary General, Collective Security Treaty Organization
NEXT YEAR it will be 20 years since the Collective Security
Treaty was signed and 10 years since the decision was made
to create a permanent structure on its basis - the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). During these years the
CSTO has been developing dynamically in sync with the in-
tensive evolution of international relations at the start of the
21st century. Practically every year the Organization has been
adding a new dimension, a new quality or a new coordinating
structure. As a result, based on what was originally designed
only to fight off an external military threat, a multifunctional
structure was built to ensure all-round security in its area of
responsibility, aimed at countering both traditional and new threats and challenges.
The decision to establish the CSTO pointed to the high degree of coincidence of the fun-
damental approaches of the Union states toward the main international security issues and
their shared understanding of the nature of current threats and challenges. The members
of the new organization immediately set themselves the aim of developing comprehensive
allied relations in the foreign policy and other areas. One of their leading motives was to
give higher priority to political interaction amid the growing diversity of threats on the
part of both state and nongovernmental structures.
From the very start of its activity, the CSTO aimed for close cooperation with international
organizations. This especially applies to those acting in the security sphere.
On the one hand, the relations between Russia and the United States, and Russia and the
EU are improving, as is the relations with NATO - in other words, there is a trend toward
a new level of cooperation. On the other hand, the situation along the North Africa-Middle
East arc is aggravating.
At the same time, there are attempts by groups of states seeking to dictate rules of conduct
to others by offering their own interpretation of norms of international law and using in-
ternational institutions.
We believe that the current contacts between the CSTO and the OSCE Anti-Terrorism
Unit and the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre are very useful. We take their experience
into account in developing our own anti-crisis programs. In March, CPC director H. Zalber
addressed a session of the CSTO Permanent Council.
Our organization has been instrumental in facilitating the coordination of effective inter-
CSTO: 10 Years of Countering Threats and Challenges