Armenia in CSTO

The Republic of Armenia is a founding member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, Organization).

The Permanent Representation of the Republic of Armenia to the CSTO (residence in Moscow) was established upon the January 16, 2012 decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia.

Membership in the CSTO is among the security components of Armenia, which is realized via multilateral ties between the member states.

Before the establishment of the Organization, the member states had been cooperating in the frames of the Collective Security Treaty (Treaty), which was signed on May 15, 1992.

The heads of the Collective Security Treaty participating states made a decision to establish a full-fledged international organization - the Collective Security Treaty Organization, at the course of the summit held in Moscow on May 14, 2002. The CSTO charter and the Agreement on the Organization’s legal status were initialed on October 7, 2002.

The Collective Security Treaty stipulates that “in case a threat to security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty of one or several member states or a threat to international peace and security, the member states immediately put the mechanism of joined consultations into action with the aim to coordinate their positions and take necessary measures to eliminate the emerging threat (Article 2).”

The Treaty also states that “in case an act of aggression (armed attack threatening security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty) is committed against any of the member states, it will be considered as aggression (armed attack threatening security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty) against all the member states of the given Treaty (article 4).”

Also, it’s of particular importance that privileged conditions for the military-technical supplies have been defined within the framework of the Organization aiming to strengthen the military component of the member states.

Armenia has always been consistent in the initiatives targeting foreign policy coordination, fostering defense (military) potential, as well as countering challenges and threats in the frames of the organization.

The Nagorno Karabakh peace process has always been in the center of attention of the CSTO. This is reflected in the joint statements adopted by the heads and foreign ministers of member states:

The Declaration of the Heads of the CSTO Member States, May 15, 2012;

The Statement of the CSTO Foreign Ministers, May 27, 2013;

The Statement of the Heads of the CSTO Member States, December 23, 2014.

Another statement on the Karabakh issue was adopted at the session of the CSTO Foreign Ministers’ Council held in Yerevan on July 4, 2016.

Issues of pan-Armenian significance as well find relevant reflection within the framework of the CSTO.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization condemned the extremists’ assault on Syria’s Armenian-populated Kessab in a statement adopted at the sitting of the CSTO Foreign Ministers’ Council held in Moscow on April 3, 2013.

Another statement on Syria was adopted at the course of the sitting of the CSTO Foreign Ministers’ Council held in Yerevan in 2016.

Armenia’s Chairmanship at the CSTO

Armenia assumed the CSTO chairmanship for the second time on September 15, 2015.

The priorities of Armenia’s chairmanship in the Organization run as follows:

The finalization of development of “The CSTO Collective Security Strategy for the Period till 2025” and its adoption in 2016;
Enhancement of foreign policy coordination of the Organization’s member states taking into account the collective instructions to the permanent representatives of the CSTO member states to international organizations. Activation of cooperation aiming to counter the initiatives contradicting the interests of one or several CSTO member states;
Development of practical collaboration with the UN, OSCE, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and others taking into consideration the interests of jointly counteracting international terrorism and extremism, neo-fascism, other expressions of chauvinism and xenophobia, as well as spread of radical nationalism;
The further improvement of the management system of the CSTO collective security forces and resources, including the collective rapid response forces and the united regional forces; the increase of operability of making and fulfilling decisions related to their implementation; the organization of joint events for operative and combat readiness, including “Cobalt-2016” operative-tactical military drills;
Joint activities directed at the development of the CSTO crisis response system;
Consideration of issue of establishment of base organization for training CSTO peacekeepers;
Fostering military-technical and military-economic cooperation between the CSTO member states, particularly by founding joint enterprises in the military-industrial field;
Issues related to ensuring the security of the CSTO logistics infrastructure, including the implementation of the 2003 agreement on the establishment of a common railroad technical maintenance system, as well as through the optimization of transmitting and transferring military freight;
Implementation of the CSTO anti-drug strategy, realization of “Canal”, “Nelegal” and “Proxy” operative-preventive complex operations. As well as, holding conference dedicated to ensuring cyber-security of the CSTO member states with the application of new information technology in 2016 in Armenia;
Further development of the Organization’s activity, among other things, including resumption of activities of the High-Level Group.

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