The potential and future of the common security space were discussed on the sidelines of the WEF

Key aspects of strengthening stability in the face of geopolitical challenges and ensuring security in Eurasia became the main issues of the session "CSTO — SCO: Security Space", held at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on September 4.

The potential of regional collective security mechanisms became the focus of attention. It was noted that combining the efforts of states within the framework of the CSTO and the SCO plays a crucial role in forming a stable security space and coordinating law enforcement and defense structures in the context of international political turbulence.

"In the Eurasian space and in the geopolitical landscape, first of all, it is the transition of the countries of the collective West to an open confrontation with our country. This raised the issue of building an updated security architecture that would help prevent conflicts and neutralize existing threats. The key elements of this architecture are, of course, the CSTO and the SCO. If we talk about universal mechanisms, they no longer work in many ways: unfortunately, the influence of the Security Council is limited, and Western countries are trying to dilute its mandate, limit the right of veto, and put their neocolonial priorities on the agenda. At the regional level, the situation is also far from ideal: the Council of Europe and the OSCE have long and definitively discredited themselves as security instruments," said Alexey Shevtsov, Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

The participants of the discussion also focused on issues of countering modern cross-border threats, terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, as well as combating information attacks.

Special attention was also paid to the SCO's role in ensuring collective security in Eurasia.

"Security cannot be considered solely in the military-political sphere. Economic stability, the sustainability of transport corridors, energy and food security, digital security, and the development of cross–border cooperation are all elements of a single security space. In this context, the SCO has significant potential; the organization is gradually forming a comprehensive model of cooperation in which security issues are considered in conjunction with the economy, transport, energy, ecology, healthcare and humanitarian relations," said Adviser to the SCO Secretary General Kazybek Kochkonov.

The session also highlighted Russia's priorities in the year of the CSTO presidency.

"The Russian presidency is held under the motto "Collective security in a multipolar world: common goal, common responsibility." Our priorities are focused primarily on strengthening the allied ties of the CSTO countries, building the organization's capacity to give a new impetus to the development of the CSTO, which is already approaching its 25th anniversary. An important task is to strengthen the international authority of the CSTO and develop its practical ties with other structures of the Eurasian region. We aim to further expand the horizons of cooperation between friendly States and international organizations, including through the use of observer and partner status. In our opinion, both the CSTO and the SCO should act as leading participants in the process of forming an architecture of equal and indivisible security in the Eurasian space, because their activities are based on the philosophy of creation and those principles that should form the conceptual basis of this new architecture: respect for independence and sovereignty, voluntary participation, equality of rights and obligations of states.-members, non-interference in matters falling under national jurisdiction. Today, such a continent—wide security mechanism is in demand," said Irina Kovalchuk, Deputy Director of the First CIS Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The session was also attended by Nikolay Balan, Head of the International Activities Department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare; Alexandra Perminova, Head of the Center for Central Asian Studies at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Sergey Pospelov, Executive Secretary of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly and Head of the Secretariat of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, as well as representatives of the Secretariat and the CSTO Joint Staff.

The issues of further development of the CSTO will be discussed in more detail at the upcoming International Collective Security Forum, which will be held in Moscow on November 10-11 as part of Russia's CSTO presidency this year.

The event is organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Roscongress Foundation with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The Eastern Economic Forum was held on September 1-4 at the Far Eastern Federal University campus. The main theme this year is "The Far East — development for the benefit of people." The WEF is organized by the Roscongress Foundation with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation.