CSTO Secretary General: cooperation between CSTO and EEU to mirror relations between NATO and EU

The cooperation between the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) can follow the principle of the relationship building between NATO and the European Union, CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha told BelTA answering the question on the possible merger of the EEU and the CSTO into one military, political and economic organization.

“There are two models of work in this direction. The first model which is used today, for instance in Europe: NATO and the European Union. No state is accepted into the EU until it joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NATO is responsible for security, the European Union deals with the policy, economy and so on. The same scheme is suggested for now for the relations between the Eurasian Economic Union and the CSTO. The Union will address economic issues, while the CSTO will be in charge of the policy and security. I believe this is how we will work it out,” Nikolai Bordyuzha said.

The CSTO Secretary General did not rule out their merger at some stage when the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union become more developed with all cooperation mechanisms worked out. “As an expert who dedicated the whole life to the security issues I believe that it would be a mistake to unite the two organizations into one union, at least in the near future. Such a union will be huge, difficult to manage. It would be better for the two organizations to cooperate. I believe we will come to this in the near future,” the CSTO Secretary General noted.