Thursday, May 16 2019 18:23

ArmInfo.The issue of appointing the Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be decided at a meeting of the CSTO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on May 22, Acting Secretary General of the CSTO  Valery Semerikov told journalists today, BelTA reports.

Valery Semerikov said that on May 17, an extraordinary meeting of the  CSTO Permanent Council will be held, where they will discuss the  issue of a new general secretary of the organization. Proposals will  be prepared for submission to the CSTO Foreign Ministerial Council  meeting. "And there will be a corresponding decision already made,"  said the Acting CSTO Secretary General. According to Valery  Semerikov, the appointment of the representative of Belarus,  Secretary of State of the Security Council Stanislav Zas to the post  of head of the CSTO will be discussed. He recalled that the turn of  the Republic of Belarus to occupy the post of secretary general is  January 1, 2020. Today, this position should be replaced by the  representative of Armenia, but there was a force majeure.

"I think that the final decision on the appointment will be made on  May 22. We have one candidate submitted for approval, and many  presidents approved it. We will discuss this issue substantively and  specifically," the acting CSTO Secretary General noted.

Until November 2018, the post of CSTO Secretary General was occupied  by the representative of Armenia Yuri Khachaturov, however he was  withdrawn in view of the criminal case brought against him. Yerevan  insists that the representative of Armenia should continue to hold  office until the completion of the 3-year term, while Belarus insists  that the next chairman should be the representative of Belarus  Stanislav Zas. His candidacy was approved by all countries except  Armenia.

The CSTO includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Armenia, Belarus  and Tajikistan.