CSTO may consider measures against Armenia over non-payment of membership fees – Lavrov

The Collective Security Treaty Organization may consider applying provisions of its charter in response to Armenia’s failure to pay membership fees, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

“What should be done in this situation? We discussed this issue today. Armenia has owed contributions to the CSTO budget for more than two years, and such a situation is enshrined in the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Today, we agreed to consider the possibility of applying the relevant article of the CSTO Charter,” Lavrov told reporters.

According to Article 20 of the CSTO Charter, if a member state fails to repay its debt to the organization’s budget within two years, the Council may decide to temporarily deprive that country’s citizens of the right to be nominated for quota-based positions within the organization, as well as suspend the state’s voting rights in CSTO bodies until the debt is fully repaid.

The same article also stipulates that if a member state fails to comply with the Charter, decisions of the Collective Security Council, or decisions of other CSTO bodies adopted for their implementation, the Council may suspend that state’s participation in the organization’s activities or even consider its exclusion from the CSTO.

Decisions on such matters are taken without counting the vote of the member state concerned.