The situation in Afghanistan directly affects the situation in the Central Asian region of the collective security, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin told reporters yesterday following a session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member nations. 

The CSTO foreign ministers shared the view that it is necessary to strengthen the Tajik-Afghan stretch of the Organization’s southern border, Muhriddin stressed.  

He further added that the Tajik side has been advancing the work on concerting the CSTO target interstate program on strengthening the Tajik-Afghan border.

Presided over by Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, the meeting was reportedly focused on the current state and prospects of development of the international situation and assessment of its impact on security of the CSTO member nations.   

The meeting participants also exchanged views on prospects of further expansion of multifaceted cooperation within the CSTO.

CSTO foreign ministers also discussed and approved decisions that will be submitted for consideration to the autumn session of the CSTO Collective Security Council session.

Meanwhile, Belarusian news agency BelTA says the CSTO member states intend to step up joint efforts to inform the general public about the organization's work.

CSTO Secretary-General Stanislav Zas reportedly made the statement yesterday after the CSTO foreign ministers’ session in Dushanbe.

According to BelTA, the CSTO Foreign Ministers Council has decided that diplomatic missions of the CSTO member states will step up efforts to cover the organization's work.  The CSTO foreign ministers decided to instruct their ambassadors to step up interaction in matters concerning the coverage of the Collective Security Treaty Organization's work.  In particular, the document provides for arranging CSTO Days and for using digital resources of the CSTO member states' diplomatic missions in order to deliver up-to-date information about the organization. Social networks will also be used to popularize the CSTO's work.

The CSTO Foreign Ministers Council approved a draft agreement on the jurisdiction and legal aid in cases relating to the temporary presence of collective security forces in the territories of the CSTO member states.  The purpose of the document is to create a mechanism of cooperation of the relevant authorities of the CSTO member states (military police, military investigators, military prosecutors, military courts and tribunals) in criminal cases and administrative cases focusing on people that belong to the collective security forces.

The next session of the CSTO Foreign Ministers Council is supposed to take place in Tajikistan in Q4 2021 prior to a session of the Collective Security Council. 

The CSTO is a regional security group comprising six countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

It was initially set up in 1992 at a meeting in Tashkent and Uzbekistan once already suspended its membership in 1999.  However, Tashkent returned to the CSTO again in 2006 The regional security organization was initially formed in 1992 for a five-year period by the members of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) -- Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which were joined by Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Belarus the following year.  A 1994 treaty reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force, and prevented signatories from joining any “other military alliances or other groups of states” directed against members states.  The CST was then extended for another five-year term in April 1999, and was signed by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.  In October 2002, the group was renamed as the CSTO.  Uzbekistan that suspended its membership in 1999 returned to the CSTO again in 2006 after it came under international criticism for its brutal crackdown of antigovernment demonstrations in the eastern city of Andijon in May 2005.  On June 28, 2012, Uzbekistan announced that it has suspended its membership of the CSTO, saying the organization ignores Uzbekistan and does not consider its views.  The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.