Medvedev to participate in CSTO summit in Kazakhstan
MOSCOW. August 12. KAZINFORM Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev is leaving on Friday for Kazakhstan, where he will participate in an informal summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation /CSTO/. Leaders of the member-countries plan to discuss first of all the situation in the Middle East and Northern Africa; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
Earlier, Medvedev said he would update his counterparts on Russia’s efforts to normalise the situation in Northern Africa and in the Middle East.
“The situation in Northern Africa and in the Middle East influence directly the situation in the CSTO,” he said. “I will positively inform the partners on the intermediate efforts we are undertaking.”
Medvedev is also planning to discuss the situation in Kyrgyzstan, to talk about “major regional threats, and generally about the situation in the region.”
“Russia is interested in building up the CSTO’s potential,” he stressed.
Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko, who chairs the organisation now, agrees with him.
“We should discuss the emerging situation, the issues which may arise,” Lukashenko said. “They are serious and they are numerous. With the events happening in the world, the military-political bloc should coordinate and even pre-plan its activities.”
“It is not worth hiding that the entire Muslim world is boiling up, and we may not rule out a situation where tension may occur in our Muslim countries – in Tajikistan, there are enough problems in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan.”
The Kremlin’s press service said that “the countries’ leaders will exchange views on current problems of modern international situation, including the situation in the Middle East and in Northern Africa, as well as in the CSTO’ s area of responsibility, they will discuss various aspects of the organisation’s activities, and raising its effectiveness.”
“Though the discussions will be of free character and there will not be a strict agenda, it is supposed that the presidents will give orders to the CSTO’s Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha regarding preparations for the organisation’s next session /due before the yearend in Moscow/, and, possibly, regarding the double jubilee in 2012 – 20th anniversary of the Treaty on Collective Security and 10th anniversary of the organisation,” the press service said.
It is planned, that the summit will begin on Friday in Astana, and after the official part, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev will invite the presidents to the Borovoye to continue their work.
Earlier, Bordyuzha said that presidents of all member countries will come to Astana, except for Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov. The CSTO unites seven countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The upcoming meeting will be the fifth event of the kind in the organisation’s history. This forum started in the Borovoye /Kazakhstan/ on December 19-21, 2008 and later on it was developed in Cholpon-Ata /Kyrgyzstan/ on July 31- August 1, 2009, in Moscow on May 8, 2010, and in Yerevan on August 20, 2010.
See www.itar-tass.com for full version.