February 5, 2004 - 22:00 AMT
TALKS HELD TO ENLARGE OCST
Within the framework of the Organization of the Collective Security Treaty (OCST) talks are held with a number of the CIS countries over enlargement of the organization, OCST secretary general Nikoay Bordyuzha told journalists today. "We have had and we do have contacts with some CIS countries - I would like not to mention them yet - over their participation in the OCST as organization members and observers," Bordyuzha said, Interfax agency reported. At that he emphasized that he would not like the OCST to enlarge hastily. "For today - fortunately six states make the OCST (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan), as they are exactly those states that actually want to cooperate, especially since all OCST decisions are based on consensus," he said.