CSTO Secretary General says co-operation with OSCE crucial for security

VIENNA, 15 April 2010 - Co-operation between the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the OSCE is crucial to promote security in several areas, including the Kyrgyz crisis, the CSTO Secretary General, Nikolay Bordyuzha, told the OSCE today.

Speaking to a joint meeting of the OSCE's Permanent Council and Forum for Security Co-operation, Bordyuzha said the CSTO prioritized developing further co-operation with the OSCE, particularly in political and military aspects of security.

"The CSTO seeks to join the OSCE in working to assure security and stability in the Eurasian region and to use its experience in monitoring and crisis settlement," he said. "Our organization is ready to realize mutual security projects."

Bordyuzha welcomed regular information exchange with the OSCE on the situation in Afghanistan and other topics, noting that the organizations co-operated in areas such as counter-terrorism and in supporting Kyrgyzstan's efforts to resolve its political crisis. He in particular welcomed co-operation and exchange of information among the OSCE, UN, CSTO and the EU in recent days in Bishkek.

The CSTO also welcomed a decision taken by OSCE Foreign Ministers in December 2009 that encourages the OSCE to continue work to help its participating States to combat the illicit spread of small arms and light weapons and ammunition, and another decision that calls on the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation to intensify its security dialogue and to look for ways to strengthen arms control and confidence- and security-building measures, including the Vienna Document 1999.

"We hope that the adoption of these decisions and the will of all participating States to fulfil the obligations will give a new impulse and allow for an intensification of the co-operation between our organizations," he said.

The Permanent Council and the Forum for Security Co-operation are two of the OSCE's main, regular decision-making bodies. They meet weekly in Vienna to discuss developments and make decisions. The Forum focuses on military aspects of security in the OSCE area, in particular confidence- and security building measures.