Wednesday, June 8 2022 14:48

ArmInfo.The CSTO should act as a factor ensuring balance in the Euro-Atlantic area. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated this in an interview for the "CSTO  Allies - 30 years on guard of collective security" film.

Thus, answering the question of how the Organization will change in  the medium and long term in the coming decades, Lavrov noted that the  CSTO will develop depending on the needs that actually arise in  practical life.

According to him, not everyone likes the development of the  Organization, incl. NATO partners.

 At the same time, the Russian minister recalled that starting from  the mid-2000s, the CSTO, including at the level of the presidents of  the participating countries, proposed NATO to establish mechanisms  for consultations, information exchange, interaction in certain areas  of maintaining security in the Euro- Atlantic region, primarily  within the OSCE.

"NATO members (they continue to treat other countries and bodies with  arrogance) ignored these appeals.  Now a heated discussion has begun  on how to implement the decisions of the OSCE summits on ensuring the  indivisibility of security. This is one of the fundamental issus that  we raise," Lavrov said.

According to him, the formula of the indivisibility of security,  which is signed by all presidents and heads of government of NATO  countries, among other things, implies the rejection of attempts by  any country, group of countries or any organization to claim a  dominant role in the Euro-Atlantic region.

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that NATO is doing  exactly what is forbidden with all its vital activity, and what its  members have pledged not to do.

"We ask these questions to our interlocutors because, in addition to  the obligation not to strengthen anyone's security at the expense of  the security of others, there is also an obligation to exclude the  exclusivity of any organization, in this case NATO, in security  processes in the Euro-Atlantic space.

We will persistently seek these answers. It's not just like that:  they promised, signed, and then they do what they want. Therefore,  the CSTO should act as a factor ensuring balance in the Euro-Atlantic  area.

I am sure that both its authority and its voice, (despite the fact  that t is a relatively young organization compared to the same NATO)  will become more and more significant,  in the lie with the progress  of our discussions and our initiatives on security in the region,"  Lavrov summed up.