Vigen Sargsyan: What do we find to be not so efficient in CSTO?

Armenia is one of the founding members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and always takes very seriously this integration union, Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan said during the visiting session of the Valdai international dialogue club on March 11.

“In the regional context, the fundamental component of our foreign policy is the strategic alliance with Russia, which is stipulated by several bilateral and regional cooperation documents.

Armenia is one of the CSTO founding members and always takes very seriously that integration union. We really believe that this organization can have a worthy place in the international relations system”, he said. The Minster mentioned that nevertheless there are still issues in the CSTO.

“What do we find to be not so efficient in that organization? The combination of priorities in foreign policies of CSTO member states. We see that in third organizations, in other platforms, nevertheless, there is still temptation to ignore a bit the interests of CSTO colleagues by some members. But I think that it will pass with time,” he said. He mentioned that at the same time Armenia is rather actively cooperating with NATO, which is very transparent for all partners of Armenia.

“We, namely, highlight the peacekeeping mission which we carry out within the NATO units in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Armenian peacekeepers carry out their responsibilities with high efficiency, contributing to providing security,” Sargsyan said.