“The Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) may decide next week to strip Armenia of its voting right in the organisation.”
Globalinfo.az reports that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said this to TASS.
“Armenia has not paid its membership dues for more than two years. Therefore, the issue of temporarily suspending its membership, more precisely of depriving it of voting rights until the dues are paid, could be discussed. This is a purely technical matter provided for by the relevant article of the charter. Such an outcome is possible, but everything depends on the chairman’s decision,” he said.
Pankin recalled that Russia currently chairs the CSTO and bears responsibility for all issues on the organisation’s agenda.
“The CSTO summit will be held. Before that, a meeting of foreign and defence ministers, as well as security council secretaries, will take place. The Armenian issue may not be the most important one, but it could be the most interesting for the public. Because the CSTO is an organisation of cooperation, common tasks and goals,” Pankin noted.
Recall that the next meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council will be held on November 11 in Moscow.
Note that a decision to deprive Armenia of voting rights must be taken not by a simple majority of votes, but on the basis of consensus. That is, without taking Armenia’s own vote into account, the consent of 5 countries is required. Thus, the consent of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will be decisive.
Aliyar Khalil
Globalinfo.az
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