CSTO ADVANCED PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM AGAINST DRUGS

PanARMENIAN.Net - In addition to the Partnership for Peace NATO Program Russia and other post-soviet states serving on the Collective Security Treaty Organization (Armenia, Belarus, Kyrghystan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan) have advanced a partnership program against drugs, Kreml.org reported. During the OSCE Forum held in Vienna today CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha addressed the NATO member-states with an appeal to join "Channel" complex prophylactic operation for blocking the routes and preventing contraband of drugs. The drug traffic is a universal threat and nobody should remain indifferent to the problem. To make the activities more efficient the CSTO Coordination Council of the Heads of Counter-Drug Structures was formed under the CSTO Secretariat", the CSTO Secretary General stated adding that the Organization has already adopted the plan of measures and initiated a number of practical steps. He also noted that during the "Channel" operations carried out in 2003 and 2004 over 8 tons of drugs were confiscated, over 4000 crimes revealed as well as several hundreds of weapons and explosive assemblies seized. "Several months ago we proposed NATO to joint the operations. However we got no response", Nikolay Bordyuzha said. "The CSTO is ready for close cooperation with the international organizations to secure peace and stability in the world", he stressed.