Friday, February 22 2019 12:33

ArmInfo.The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for the coming year may be left without a full-fledged secretary general, Kommersant writes, pointing  out that the appointment of Belarusian Security Council head  Stanislav Zas to this post is delayed because of the intransigence of  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who hoped to approve his  candidate ".

The publication notes that the CSTO accepted the fact that because of  the position of Armenia in the organization, there will not be a  full-fledged secretary general for another year, whose duties will  continue to be performed by the representative of the Russian  Federation Valery Semerikov. "We presume that until early 2020, the  CSTO will be headed by the Acting Secretary General," said an  informed source of Kommersant at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Kommersant's interlocutor close to the CSTO confirmed this scenario.  "We are awaiting appointment next year. There is no collapse and  stupor in the organization, it works in accordance with the plans."

The candidacy of Stanislav Zas at the end of last year was approved  by five of the six states of the bloc (the CSTO members are Armenia,  Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan). The  presidents of these countries, including Vladimir Putin, met with the  candidate and expressed support for him.

 "Only Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan didn't accept Mr. Zas. The  conflict with the appointment of the Secretary General arose because  of his position in the alliance. Yerevan withdrew his representative  Yuri Khachaturov from this post because of the criminal case opened  in his homeland and proceeded from the fact that it was Armenia's  appointee who had to replace Khachaturov and finish the three-year  term. Other partners did not agree with this, first of all Minsk,  claiming this position in accordance with the principle of  alphabetical rotation. However, such issues are solved only by  consensus. Negotiations at different levels did not lead to anything  and repeatedly provoked conflicts, as Nikol Pashinyan stood his  ground. At closed meetings of the leaders of the CSTO countries,  passions sometimes heated up to the point that, according to  Kommersant's information, one of the presidents even warned the  Armenian prime minister that the secretary general will be appointed  without considering Yerevan's opinion , "writes Kommersant.

A week ago, this topic was again actively discussed. Commenting on  the situation around the CSTO Secretary General, Belarusian Foreign  Ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said: Minsk was sympathetic to the  fact that Nikol Pashinyan did not have the opportunity to accept  Stanislav Zas during the election campaign in Armenia (parliamentary  elections were held there in December). "But this period is over, so  we expect that the Armenian side will report on the dates of this  meeting in the near future," he added. ''The post of general  secretary of the international military-political organization - this  is not a hotel room, which can be booked, even if there is no  opportunity to use it again'',  said Mr. Glaz.

Yerevan, however, does not intend to hasten with the approval of the  Belarusian candidate. Answering a question from Kommersant about  whether Nikol Pashinyan and Stanislav Zas will meet in the near  future, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan  referred to the statement made by the spokesman for Armenian Prime  Minister Vladimir Karapetyan, who said that there was no specific  agreement on such a meeting.

At the same time, Mrs. Naghdalyan stressed that "the CSTO is an  important component of the security system of Armenia". "Based on  this, we take very seriously all issues related to the CSTO. And that  is precisely why increasing the effectiveness of an organization -  first and foremost, improving the legal framework - is a priority for  us, "the Spokeswoman concluded.

Speaking about the legal basis that needs to be improved, Yerevan  means the rules for replacing the CSTO Secretary General in case of  early resignation. ''It's important for us to decide on the rules of  the game in cases of early termination of powers of the Secretary  General. In determining these rules of the game, in parallel with  their legal execution, it is possible to work out the issues of the  candidacy of the new Secretary General for the next three years, "an  informed Kommersant source in Armenian state structures explained.  Regarding the statement of Anatoly Glaz that the CSTO is not a hotel,  he noted: ''Each hotel has its own rules. Early check-in requires an  extra charge''.