Tokayev proposed to reveal the peacekeeping potential of the CSTO

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Photo: akorda.kz

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke at the session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), held in Minsk. The meeting was attended by the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and the Secretary General of the CSTO. The parties discussed aspects of ensuring security, summarized the activities of the CSTO over the past year, determined plans and exchanged views on global issues.

The President of Kazakhstan stated that he shares the concerns of his CSTO partners about traditional threats, including drug trafficking, weapons, cross-border crime and illegal migration.

“When designing the tactics and strategy of the CSTO, of course, we must take into account the threats and challenges of modern realities. At the same time, in my opinion, it is not necessary to constantly talk about growing threats to the security of the CSTO member states, even if they exist. After all, threats have always existed. This is the essence of the international community. Frequent statements on this topic create the illusion that we are afraid of someone. These types of statements can also be, and appear to be, completely misinterpreted. The organization’s rhetoric must be harsh, but extremely correct, taking into account the self-esteem of the participating states and their combined political-military potential and power. The CSTO has demonstrated its successes as an authoritative military-political organization, but there are still new tasks ahead that must correspond to the constructive spirit of its member states,” said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

“Stop before the fire of war burns all countries”

Tokayev noted that today’s meeting is taking place in conditions of increasingly deteriorating international situation. A tense situation is developing on the Eurasian continent and on the perimeter of the CSTO zone of responsibility. Developments in the Middle East are of particular concern.

“As a result of the conflict, the civilian population is suffering; A large number of innocent people, including children, have died. It’s impossible to put up with this. Kazakhstan provided humanitarian assistance to Gaza residents in the amount of one million dollars and sent it to the UN structure, UNRWA / UNRWA, which suffered unprecedented losses among its personnel, but heroically continues its work. The conflict in the Middle East has unleashed a spiral of informational and ideological confrontation of practically global reach. The events in the Gaza Strip have divided the world community into at least two camps. We have to stop before the fire of war burns all countries and continents,” the president of Kazakhstan is convinced.

Under these conditions, the President of Kazakhstan welcomes the temporary truce agreements.

“From the beginning, we insisted that the parties to the conflict make every effort to declare a humanitarian pause and use it to develop long-term settlement measures. In addition, it is necessary, finally, under the auspices of the UN, to guarantee the right of the Palestinians to create a full-fledged state according to the formula “Two States for Two Peoples.” In this difficult situation, it is even more important to strictly implement the resolutions of the UN Security Council and observe the norms of international law,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed.

Another focus of threats is Afghanistan. The President of Kazakhstan considers it important to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and integrate this country into the regional economy. This year, Kazakhstan sent food, essential goods and medicine to Afghanistan. In connection with the October earthquake in western Afghanistan, rescuers, dog handlers and doctors were sent.

As for the CSTO itself, the President of Kazakhstan believes that a lot of work has been done this year to develop the organization’s potential and increase the effectiveness of mechanisms to counter challenges and threats.

Cooperation priorities

Next year the succession of the CSTO presidency will pass from Belarus to Kazakhstan. In this regard, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev formulated the priorities of his country’s activities within the framework of the military alliance.

Kazakhstan is interested in its progressive development, in strengthening collective security, taking into account the national interests of the Member States.

Tokayev considers it necessary to “focus on maintaining the established level of interaction with the UN and its structures” and deepen cooperation between the CSTO, the CIS and the SCO.

The second important area is interaction in military cooperation. According to the President of Kazakhstan, it is necessary to improve the regulatory framework to ensure the operational deployment of the CSTO Collective Forces, this applies to unhindered and non-stop transit of contingents, military aviation flights, etc.

No less important is the training of military personnel and the development of the military-scientific potential of the CSTO states. “It is proposed to place special emphasis on unlocking the peacekeeping potential of the organization. A key role is played by the activities of the Special Representative of the CSTO Secretary General on peacekeeping issues,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted.

Another priority was the development of cooperation to combat international terrorism and extremism, i.e. Strengthen the anti-terrorist component of the collective security system.

“We must continue working together to prevent the departure of citizens from our countries who plan to join terrorist groups. It is important to use a mechanism to search, detain and extradite people involved in terrorism and extremism. “We propose to intensify the activities of the expert working group on combating terrorism and extremism of the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils,” said the President of Kazakhstan.

According to him, the organization must also combat the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and do so taking into account current factors, including the increasing spread of synthetic drugs. In this sense, the Coordination Council of Heads of Competent Authorities for the Fight against Illicit Drug Trafficking must play a decisive role.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also considers the fight against illicit arms trafficking and transnational organized crime, deepening cooperation to prevent and eliminate the consequences of emergency situations, and combating crimes in the field of technology as important areas. of the information.

“In modern conditions, the nature of threats and the arsenal of tools used by cybercriminals are dynamically changing. It seems important to take this into account when using our main tool – the CSTO operation to combat crimes in the field of information technologies “PROXY”, said the President of Kazakhstan.

He informed his colleagues that in the near future the list of priorities for Kazakhstan’s presidency of the CSTO will be sent to member states. Tokayev expressed confidence that he will continue comprehensive work to strengthen and develop the collective security system of the CSTO states.

It is worth adding that the Russian president, speaking at the Minsk summit, stated that joint activities within the framework of the CSTO contribute to the unity of the states and peoples of the alliance, preserving the memory of history and achievements common. “We will all prepare to celebrate with dignity in 2025 the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, and in 2024 the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus and the 80th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad,” Vladimir Putin said.

For his part, the President of Belarus recalled that the end of his country’s presidency in the CSTO was based on the motto “Through solidarity and cooperation towards peace and security.” “If we are united, our organization will be stronger. We have formulated the priority areas of the Presidency in such a way that they lay the foundation for the long-term development of the CSTO. But this is not enough. We need to be stronger and more united,” said Alexandr Lukashenko.

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