The Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) plans to establish an institute of CSTO PA partner countries, which will receive an advisory vote. This was stated by State Duma Speaker, CSTO PA President Vyacheslav Volodin.
“We are supposed to consider establishing a new partnership institution for the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly. Partners will have the right to a consultative voice, document preparation, and developing collective decisions,” Volodin said.
According to him, the new status is of great importance for the efficiency and transparency of the Assembly. “Especially since a number of countries are interested in cooperation within the framework of the OSCE PA. In this regard, the provision of the status of observers and partners in the CSTO provides additional opportunities to intensify inter-parliamentary cooperation with countries and international organizations that share our principles at work,” Volodin said.
At the moment, aside from the members of the CSTO PA, there are also observer nations: Afghanistan and Serbia.
Read also
After the session, Leonid Kalashnikov, the head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, told reporters that many countries are interested in the new gauge, but noted two of them specifically- Azerbaijan and Pakistan.