CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Marks 20th Anniversary with Statement on Security Cooperation

MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. The Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) adopted a statement at a meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the Assembly's establishment. "Over the past two decades, the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly has become a key component of the CSTO collective security system, ensuring effective parliamentary cooperation among member states and promoting the convergence and harmonization of national legislation in the interests of strengthening national and collective security, peace, stability, and sovereignty," the document reads. Statement The document highlights the importance of joint legislative efforts to harmonize the laws of CSTO member states in defense, military development, security, and in countering modern challenges and threats, including terrorism, extremism, illicit trafficking in drugs and weapons, cyber threats, and transnational crime. It also notes that, over the years, the Assembly has adopted important model legislative acts that have made a significant contribution to the development of a collective security system. "We express our gratitude to the parliaments of CSTO member states for their active participation in establishing and developing the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, as well as for supporting initiatives to improve crisis response, strengthen the legal framework for the military component and peacekeeping capabilities, facilitate the ratification of key international treaties concluded within the CSTO, and monitor electoral processes in member states," the document says. The Assembly Council considers it particularly important to expand cooperation with international organizations, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as to deepen ties with legislatures of states that share the CSTO's principles and values, with a view to enhancing international and regional security. "We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening international peace and security in accordance with universally recognized principles and norms of international law and treaties. We are convinced that cooperation within the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly will make a significant contribution to building an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia, aimed at ensuring peace, stability, and prosperity on the continent," the statement reads. The CSTO Parliamentary Assembly also advocates collective measures to strengthen global and regional security, stresses the unacceptability of coercive pressure and interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, and reaffirms support for initiatives aimed at enhancing international peace and security. "We intend to continue contributing to the strengthening of allied relations, the development of integration processes, and the formation of a just, democratic, and secure world based on genuine equality, mutual respect, non-interference in domestic affairs, the indivisibility of security, and the resolution of international disputes through political and diplomatic means. In the interest of the well-being and prosperity of all countries and peoples, we call on the world's parliaments and international parliamentary organizations to consolidate their efforts to lay the foundations for sustainable development free from armed conflict and the use of force," the statement says. Meeting A meeting of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly is underway in Moscow, with delegations from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan in attendance. The session is chaired by CSTO Parliamentary Assembly Chairman and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. The agenda includes the harmonization of legislation among member states and measures to counter challenges and threats within the CSTO's area of responsibility. Russia is chairing the Collective Security Treaty Organization this year.