Saturday, October 15 2016 16:13

ArmInfo.  All the members of the CSTO Council have unanimously decided to extend the mandate of CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha for one more year.  

Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov has told   ArmInfo that it was a collective decision. 

"I'd like to recall that in the CSTO issues are not addressed by   means of requests. This decision has been taken collectively,   including by the President of Armenia," Sharmazanov says. 

He also recalls that during the meeting of the CSTO Collective   Security Council on October 14 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan   handed over the CSTO chairmanship to President of Belarus Alexander   Lukashenko.  

Serzh Sargsyan also noted at a briefing that the issue of the CSTO   Secretary General will be considered in late 2016 during the meeting   in St. Petersburg.

"As a man well aware of the CSTO processes, I can say with confidence   that one should not overestimate the influence or significance of a   particular state's representative, because the person holding a   particular position must serve the interests of the CSTO instead of a   particular state. Otherwise, Bordyuzha - the representative of Russia   - would serve the interests of Russia only, but he does not. He   serves the interests of the CSTO," Sharmazanov says. 

He also explains the situation through the example of Tigran   Sargsyan, the chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission Board. He   says that Tigran Sargsyan serves the interests of the Eurasian   Economic Union, not Armenia. 

Sharmazanov does not share the opinion that Kazakh President   Nursultan Nazarbayev serves the interests of Azerbaijan in the EEU   and that Nazarbayev objected to the transfer of the CSTO Secretary   General's mandate to the representative of Armenia.  "Nazarbayev did  not object to the transfer of the CSTO Secretary  General's mandate  to the representative of Armenia. I would like to  reiterate that the  decisions in the CSTO are taken collectively,"  Sharmazanov says,  noting that the Armenian President wished "diplomatic health" and  just good health to Nazarbayev.  

The Vice Speaker stresses that one should not overestimate   Nazarbayev's role in the CSTO. If the Organization decides that the   Secretary General's mandate shall be handed over on a rotation basis   and in the alphabetical order, the mandate will be handed over to   Armenia's representative no matter whether Nazarbayev likes it or   not.  On October 14, Serzh Sargsyan said at the CSTO Collective  Security  Council's session in Yerevan that the issue of the CSTO  Secretary  General was removed from the agenda. He added that the  heads of the  CSTO member states will consider that issue at a  meeting in Russia in  late 2016.  

To note, earlier it was decided to make the CSTO Secretary General's   mandate rotating - once every three years in the alphabetical order.   In Yerevan, the participants were to name the Secretary General from   Armenia. Several names were circulating in the media, but a month ago   Serzh Sargsyan told his cronies that there would be no rotation and  that the Secretary General from Russia meets Armenia's interests.