Organization of Collective Security Treaty

Today ensuring security and stability is a key priority for the region of Central Asia and world community as a whole.

The Republic of Kazakhstan consistently creates conditions to enhance stability and security in the country and in the region to counter new challenges and threats on the basis of international law and prevent emerging threats and eradicate their basic reasons.

One of the instruments of cooperation and coordination of activities for ensuring stability and security in the region is the Organization of Collective Security Treaty (OCST).

The OCST is an international regional organization that unites Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan.

The supreme body of the Organization is the Council of Collective Security (CCS) represented by the Heads of the States. The Council examines fundamental issues concerning activities of the Organization and makes decisions directed at implementation of its goals and tasks. It also ensures coordination and joint activity of the member states in realization of these goals.

The Permanent Council is responsible for the issues of coordination of cooperation among the member states in the realization of decisions taken by the bodies of the Organization. It consists of authorized representatives, appointed by the members states.

The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (CMFA) is a consultative and executive body of the Organization on issues of cooperation in the sphere of external policy.

The Council of Ministers of Defense (CMD) is a consultative and executive body of the Organization on issues of cooperation in the sphere of military policy, military building and military technical cooperation.

The Committee of Security Councils Secretaries (CSCS) is a consultative and executive body of the Organization on issues of cooperation in the sphere of ensuring national security.

The General Secretary of the Organization is the highest administrative official of the Organization who exercises leadership of the Secretariat of Organization. The General Secretary is appointed by the decision of the CCS.

The Secretariat of the Organization is an active working body of the Organization engaged in realization of organizational, informational, analytical and consultative activities.

The main purpose of the OCST is ensuring national security, defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the member states, strengthening of armed forces related to military and organizational issues, keeping of a united system of air defense, adjustment of interaction and cooperation in the field of joint border protection with the states which are not members of the CIS.

One of the important activities of the is cooperation in the sphere of fight against international terrorism, extremism and other crimes such as drug and weapon smuggling, organized crime, illegal migration. A multi-aspect foundation for coordination of activities and concerted special operations has been created in this direction. In the frameworks of fight against drug smuggling the Coordination council that consists of officials of OCST competent bodies has been set up, operative preventive measures have been taken (e.g. the Kanal operation).

One of the OCST primary activities is strengthening international nuclear nonproliferation regime.

At the seventh conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) held in May 2005 in New York, the OCST member states made a joint statement on the urgency of “The Threat of nuclear weapons spreading and materials and technology which are necessary for its creation, especially under conditions of increasing terrorist danger”. The OCST member states stressed the contribution made by Kazakhstan and Belarus in strengthening of the non-proliferation regime by voluntary withdrawal of nuclear weapons from their territory and by urging other NPT participants to confirm adherence to this agreement.

As a result of adopting the documents and the work carried out by the ministries of defense, foreign affairs, special services, security councils, efficiency of the OCST, its adaptation to modern geopolitical and military-political conditions, development of concrete mechanisms on implementation of the agreements adopted have been substantially increased.

Date of issue: 2010-05-25