Addressing a conference on Belarus' policy towards integration with former Soviet republics, Alexander Lukashenko praised the performance of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
Lukashenko said: "Cooperation within the CSTO is becoming an important tool providing national security, given Belarus' difficult situation amid threats and pressure from the West."
Lukashenko said he was sorry that regional integration organizations still had work to do to strengthen their effectiveness.
"The CSTO falls short of being an effective security organization, and its foreign policy needs better coordination," Lukashenko said.
"Some member countries decide to deploy U.S. and NATO forces on their territory without consulting their CSTO partners," the Belarussian leader said, in a thinly veiled reference to Kyrgyzstan renting its Manas airport to the United States for its military operations in Afghanistan.
