Monday, June 6 2022 17:17

ArmInfo.Assuming the chairmanship of the Organization as a priority a problem was laid down to modernize the crisis response, monitoring, the forecast of  crisis situations and the prevention mechanisms.

I would like to mention with satisfaction that appropriate steps have been undertaken  in these priority directions. I mean the crisis response mechanisms.  President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen  Simonyan stated this on June 6 in Yerevan at a meeting of the Council  of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty  Organization, speaking about the implementation of the priorities of  the chairmanship of the Republic of Armenia in the CSTO for the  period 2021-2022.  

Thus, as the press service of the RA NA reports, Simonyan's  speech  at CSTO PA Council Meeting staes, in part:   "As you know, at the beginning of this year, taking into consideration  the bid by the President of Kazakhstan Mr Tokayev, Armenia as  chairing country to the CSTO, urgently initiated consultations with  the heads of the countries of the organization, as a result of which  Prime Minister Pashinyan announced about his decision of sending the  CSTO peacekeeping corps. The results of the peacekeeping action  assured the readiness of the Organization on taking measures on time  in counteracting the security challenges and threats of the member  states and showed the role of the CSTO in preserving the regional  stability. We always considered that the CSTO crisis response  mechanisms should work in a right way. Meanwhile, Armenia was in a  situation, when we were waiting for the mechanisms to work, but  unfortunately they didn't work.

Armenia pays special attention to the deepening of the external  political coordination and the mutual support for the elaboration of  the agreed approaches over the international and regional issues,  which touch upon the interests of the CSTO member states. I am fully  convinced that such unity should be displayed towards any ally state  of the organization.

This year considerable efforts are made to the improvement of the  response system to the crisis situations in the regions of the  Collective Security Treaty Organization, the modernization of the  mechanism of the adoption of the appropriate decisions, first of all,  the normative-legal base development, as well as the establishment of  cooperation within the framework of the crisis response centre.

The nest priority of the Republic of Armenia is the further  development of the CSTO troops (collective forces), the preservation  of their readiness for the fulfillment of the targeted tasks, taking  into consideration the forecast of the dynamics and change of the  military-political situations in the regions being in the immediate  vicinity of the CSTO responsibility zone.

I would like to separately emphasize the role of the parliamentary  measurement of the Organization on which our priorities are the  rapprochement and harmonization of the national legislation of the  CSTO member states in ensuring the security, taking into account the  challenges and threats, including the digital, economic, financial  and environmental spheres.

We also make efforts for the institutional continuous development and  activation of the Parliamentary Assembly. In this context I consider  important on time the proposal for the improvement of the CSTO  Parliamentary Assembly structure.

I shall note that the chairmanship of the Republic of Armenia passes  in the hard transformation period of the security architecture of the  world.

We witness that in the CSTO responsibility zone the situation is  tense, and the member states of the Organization continue clashing  with the new challenges and threats. The conflict potential continues  growing along the perimeter of the allied states' borders. The  situation is hard and grave on the border of Tajikistan and  Afghanistan. We hope that the problems existing between the  conflicting countries will be resolved through diplomatic means. The  situation also remains tense in Nagorno Karabakh. Unfortunately,  Azerbaijan continues pursuing rather aggressive policy against  Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The invasion of the Azerbaijani  sub-divisions into the Russian peacekeepers' responsibility zone in  Nagorno Karabakh causes concern. We hope that the representatives of  the Russian peacekeeping contingent, which have a key role in  ensuring security of the Armenian population of the Nagorno Karabakh,  will restore the status-quo of November 9, 2020 trilateral statement.

The Republic of Armenia is faithful to the implementation of all  agreements and the next trilateral statements of the heads of the  states. In the context of the created humanitarian problems because  of 44-day war, the priority is the unreservedly and urgent return of  Armenian prisoners of war and other civilians held in Azerbaijan, as  well as the preservation of the Armenian religious and cultural  heritage in the territories passed under the Azerbaijani control.

Dear colleagues, I would like to once again underscore that the  Nagorno Karabakh conflict is not a territorial dispute, but the issue  of the right of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to live safe in  their homeland. We believe that the OSCE Minsk group Chairmanship  should play a key role in the advancement of the peaceful process of  Nagorno Karabakh conflict. At the same time, we call on the  leadership of Azerbaijan not to violate the steps aimed at ensuring  the stability and peace in the South Caucasus with their bellicose  and minimalistic rhetoric.

Armenia is committed to the establishment of peace and welfare in the  region and repeatedly recorded the willingness of beginning  negotiations on the settlement of the relations with Azerbaijan. We  filled in the agenda for reaching the comprehensive peace with our  proposals and handed them over to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.   Concluding my speech, I would like to mention that no matter how  up-to-date the priorities of the development of the Organization  sounded by Armenia, we can reach results only due to the joint  efforts directed to the further strengthening of the security system,  constructive and effective cooperation and the dynamic development of  the allied relations between the member states of the Organization,"  Simonyan concluded.