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Russian lower house to host parliamentary hearings on CSTO

MOSCOW, March 13, /ITAR-TASS/. The State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, will on Thursday host parliamentary hearings on the operation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) during Russia’s presidency in the regional security structure.

The head of the State Duma committee on CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States - an association of former Soviet republics) affairs, Eurasian integration and ties with compatriots, Leonid Slutsky, told journalists that the hearings would be closed.

He said CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha would deliver a report.

Federal Drug Control Service head Viktor Ivanov, Federal Migration Service chief Konstantin Romodanovsky, representatives of the Foreign, Justice, Defense, Interior, Emergency Situations ministries and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) would take part in the discussions.

Slutsky noted the CSTO’s increasing significance in ensuring security and stability in member states. “The organization can and should become a prototype for the establishment of the security dimension of the future Eurasian Union,” Slutsky said.

At the same time, he said, it is necessary to “expand the CSTO’s functionality with account for the existing modern challenges.”

The CSTO comprises six countries - Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia.