You're reading: NATO member countries invited to Moscow for conference on int’l security

MOSCOW – Organizers of the 6th Moscow Conference on International Security have invited representatives of 84 countries, including member states of the North Atlantic Alliance, or NATO.

The conference is to be held in Moscow for the sixth time now and will see Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speak at the opening ceremony, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

A section dedicated to the conference started to function on the Russian Defense Ministry website on Friday. Representatives of 84 countries have been invited, including those nations participating in the NATO bloc, specifically, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the United States, and Turkey.

It is expected that delegations of Azerbaijan, Armenia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, Iraq, Syria, and others will also take part in the conference.

The list of invited organizations included the United Nations, the Arab League, the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as ACEAN, NATO, OSCE, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The Conference that was first held five years ago has become an important international forum “facilitating an open exchange of views on a broad spectrum of pressing issues related to security and military cooperation”, Shoigu said addressing delegates of the upcoming conference.

“International terrorism was the main topic at the forum last year. Today, terrorist aggression still remains one of the major threats to international security. A comprehensive integrated approach is needed to counteract against that. We believe it is important to continue the previously started discussions and use the upcoming conference to share assessments and the experience accumulated before. The Russian Defense Ministry will present its views on the role of the Armed Forces in international antiterrorist efforts,” Shoigu said in his address published in the aforesaid section of the ministry’s website.

Other current problems of global security and regional security, which require holding an unbiased joint analysis and identifying possible mechanisms of interaction between defense agencies, will also be in the center of attention at the upcoming forum, Shoigu said.

The topic of the forum’s first plenary meeting scheduled for April 26 is articulated as ‘Global Security: Challenges of 21st Century’. Delegates will also discuss the future and the tendencies of European security. As part of the conference’s debating part, it is planned to discuss such topics as ‘Middle East: Current Tasks of Fighting against Terrorism, Extremism’, “Security of Cyberspace and Freedom of Access to Information: Contradictory Interrelation”, “Antiballistic Defense Shield: Impact on Global and Regional Security”, and “Security in Central Asia: Factor of Afghanistan”.

In the second day of the program, on April 27, delegates will be invited to attend a plenary meeting with the following subjects on the agenda: “Asia-Pacific Region: Balance of Interests or Violent Confrontation?” and “Interaction of Defense Ministries: Regional Aspects”, the ministry’s website said.

The section’s content will also be available in three languages – English, French, and Spanish.