Lukashenka: Belarus stays true to allied commitments in CSTO

Belarus continues to stay true to its allied commitments within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

The statement was made today by Aliaksandr Lukashenka at a meeting of the heads of state of the CSTO member states, BelTA reports.

The dictator thinks that it is the practical direction in the CSTO operation that will secure the organisation's successful development. “The CSTO has been created and is meant to protect common interests of the member states,” he noted.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka thinks that the importance of securing economic interests grows with the expansion and development of the common economic space within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, which members are now virtually identical to those in the CSTO.

“The existing mechanisms of interaction between special services and other services can be used for that. The services are capable of putting a stop to organised criminal groups, which are now trying to find loopholes and exploit the new economic conditions for their criminal gains,” he said.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka wished success to Emomali Rahmon, who will take over the presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in the particularly important year, the 70th anniversary of the Victory over the Nazi in the Great Patriotic War. “The fateful date that we all remember binds us together not only by the common history but also by additional moral obligations and responsibility for preserving peace in our region,” he emphasised.

The CSTO members approved and signed the draft decision on creating the Collective Rapid Response Forces on February 4, 2009. The collective forces were created to “repulse military aggression, conduct anti-terrorist operations, fight transnational crime and drug trafficking and neutralise the effects of natural disasters”. Belarusian opposition leaders condemned the agreement on forming the CSTO CRRF, calling them punitive forces that would defend CIS dictators. The formation of the forces conflicts with the country's neutral status and the Belarusian Constitution.

Photo: AP