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World can combat drug threat from Afghanistan only in common

Churkin stated with regret that “the tendencies in this sphere are not encouraging, as the opium production went up 60% in the previous year”

THE UNITED NATIONS, March 21 (Itar-Tass) — The drug production and trafficking in Afghanistan poses a threat to peace and stability, Russian Permanent Representative in the UN Vitaly Churkin said at an official meeting of the UN Security Council on Afghanistan on Tuesday.

“The Afghan drug trafficking poses a direct and open threat to international peace and stability and is the source of financial support for terrorists,” he said.

Churkin stated with regret that “the tendencies in this sphere are not encouraging, as the opium production went up 60% in the previous year.” He named as the priority task the destruction of drug crops and the infrastructure for making drugs. “The problem should be really prioritized in the daily activities of the International Security Assistance Force,” the Russian permanent representative said. “Certainly, we should respond to a difficult situation, which is emerging along the whole route of drug trafficking from Afghanistan, but without tough measures to destroy the drug crops we will combat with symptoms, rather than the disease.”

Russia is convinced that “it is possible to fight with the drug threat only in common.” In this respect, Churkin noted the importance of the results of the Third Ministerial Conference of the Paris Pact, which was held in Vienna on February 16, 2012. The participants in the conference agreed to intensify their efforts on such priority trends as the build-up of the potential of Afghan authorities in the struggle against illegal cultivation of poppy straw and illegal drug circulation, the all-round support to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the assistance to trans-border operations of law enforcement agencies and the work of the bodies of justice in Afghanistan, transit countries and the countries consuming Afghan drugs.