Tuesday, November 13 2018 15:53

ArmInfo. In Yerevan, they believe that there are problems within the CSTO that need to be addressed.

Thus, on November 13, at the press conference in Yerevan, the press  secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Anna Naghdalyan touched  upon the discussion of the Belarusian president's issues with the  Ambassador of Azerbaijan on the internal agenda of the CSTO and the  correctness of this step from the point of view of Yerevan,  especially considering that the issues were discussed with unfriendly  to Armenia the country, in particular, said: "Armenia considers the  CSTO as a platform for discussing the interests of six countries.  These kinds of phenomena indicate that there are problems within the  organization that need to be addressed. In Yerevan, It is argued that  this kind of discussion is incorrect. "

Touching upon the elections of the CSTO Secretary General and the  possibility of continuing the representative's office in Armenia,  Naghdalyan noted that the decision to postpone the discussion of this  issue on December 6 in St. Petersburg was due to the fact that the  member countries of the organization could not reach a consensus on  this issue at the meeting in Astana. "It was also decided, in  parallel with this, to develop regulations governing the early  termination of the powers of the Secretary General. But I want to  emphasize that Armenia has all the resources to continue fulfilling  its obligations as the CSTO Secretary General until its time limit,"  the spokeswoman stressed RA MFA.

Answering the question that Stanislav Zas, a possible candidate for  Belarus's general secretary, can hold to the pro-Azerbaijani  position, considering that the latter studied in Baku and his  country's leadership is actively establishing relations with  Azerbaijan, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman once again stressed that  all decisions they are accepted by consensus in the organization and  reminded that the candidacy of the previous CSTO Secretary General  was not approved for a long time due to the lack of consensus on this  issue. She also expressed the conviction that there is a reassessment  of the capabilities of the CSTO Secretary General. "Today there is a  reassessment of the powers of the CSTO Secretary General. The  Secretary General is something like a manager. The CSTO Secretary  General does not make independent decisions, all his statements are  the result of a consensus decision of all 6 states," she said, adding  that Yerevan is promoting the rotation principle of the transfer of  the post of OSCE Secretary General.

To note, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to Belarus  Latif Gandilov on 12 November, BelTA reports. 

According to the source Lukashenko remarked that he was surprised by   the rumors in mass media about the major topics that had been   discussed at the meeting. "I am keeping an eye on what mass media are  saying, especially after the CSTO summit. And I am surprised by those  rumors.  However, it is our fault, the fault of our Ministry of  Foreign Affairs that we did not properly inform journalists and our   society about the topics discussed at the summit and so on. They said  that we had discussed the candidates for the CSTO secretary general's   position only. Yes, we discussed this matter, but it took us about 15   minutes," the president remarked. "The most discussed topic was the   foreign policy situation around the CSTO countries. Of course, while  discussing the situation around our countries, we also touched upon  the internal policy situation but only at the suggestion of a certain  president. No one was going to interfere in certain processes. For  example, Nikol Pashinyan. There will be the parliamentary elections  on 9 December, he talked about it, we listened to him," the head of  state said. "Belarus hosted several events: the Munich Security  Conference Core Group Meeting, forums of regions with Ukraine and  Russia, and I touched upon those issues. All the events happening  around us have an impact on the internal policy situation. The  presidents listened to me and took notice. They also informed us  about the events in their countries.  Nothing extraordinary." 

Speaking about the appointment of a new head of the CSTO apparatus,  Alexander Lukashenko remarked: "Of course, there were many options.    But it does not mean that we pinched Armenia, that there is a winner  and a loser. It means that Nikol Pashinyan should sort out the  situation in the government because this country presides in the EAEU   (our economic union) and the CSTO. This is very big pressure for the  country in such a transitional period. Will Armenia cope with it? If   Nikol Pashinyan sorts the things out and gives us an answer, it will   be in Saint Petersburg." The president emphasized that the decision  may be made at the meeting on 6 December.