By Alesia Vysotskaya: On 30 November, Minsk will host a summit of the CSTO. The CSTO Council session will be attended by President Alexander Lukashenko. It is expected that at the meeting in the Belarusian capital the results of 2017 will be summed up.
This year, Belarus presides in the organization. Belarus aims to strengthen the influence of the CSTO internationally, as well as to increase the operational readiness of the Collective Forces and ensure the economic security of the member states. Following the results of the summit, a number of decisions will be adopted, which will reflect the priorities of Belarus’ chairmanship.
The CSTO was established in May 1992 as a regional organization. Today, it includes Belarus, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. At the core of the activity is the creation of favorable conditions for a comprehensive development of the member states.
The 25th year of the existence of the organization yielded lots of positive results. The Collective Rapid Reaction Force consists of the best national units. This autumn, for example, a large-scale operational-strategic exercise was completed successfully. Also this year, economic security has been included in the CSTO agenda for the first time.
