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CSTO has not received new membership applications yet

Such partnership implies the implementation of the idea to expand the institution of cooperation

MOSCOW, April 12 (Itar-Tass) — Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization /CSTO/ Nikolai Bordyuzha said the organization has not received any applications for membership, and that it would be interested in new members.

"We don't have new membership applications, but there are many countries with which we cooperate, for example in combating drug trafficking and illegal migration," Bordyuzha told a news conference in the Russian capital on Thursday.

"Such partnership implies the implementation of the idea to expand the institution of cooperation. If countries outside of the CSTO share our objectives and tasks, they may participate in collective security measures," he noted.

At present, the CSTO has a tremendous significance for all the players of world’s politics. "By signing the treaty on collective security in 1992, we tried to lay legal foundation of mutual assistance in case of aggression against one of the allied states," the CSTO secretary general said.

"The treaty turned out to be the only supra-national factor to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the member-states. We have created integrated effective infrastructure, and quickly respond to new challenges and threats," he underlined.

For his part, chairman of the committee for defense and security under the Federation Council upper house of the Russian parliament Viktor Ozerov noted that the CSTO was not a closed club. "It doesn’t mean we're buttoned up in our bloc," he said.