The "Persona Non Grata" War Between PACE and Azerbaijan...

Baku has included individuals who voted against the Azerbaijani delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on its "persona non grata" list.

This was stated by the official representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Aykhan Hajizade, in response to comments made by German parliamentarian Frank Schwabe in an interview with Radio Azadliq.

In his interview, Frank Schwabe claimed that Azerbaijan is not interested in being a member of the Council of Europe, as the country "does not respect the values" of the organization. He also pointed out that Azerbaijan once again did not invite PACE observers to the Milli Majlis elections and that the system of governance in Azerbaijan is akin to the Soviet style.

Aykhan Hajizade, head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's press service, called Schwabe's statements "biased" and "false."

Frank Schwabe, head of the German delegation to PACE, criticized Baku's decision to ban members of this body, who voted to restrict the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation, from entering the country.

"In democratic countries, entry bans are imposed only on extremists and criminals who have committed violence," he wrote on the social media platform X.

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Theodoros Roussopoulos responded to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's statement that certain PACE members have been declared persona non grata in Azerbaijan.

"This is more than a regrettable signal, which only complicates Azerbaijan's current position in the Council of Europe. Member states have committed to upholding democratic standards: blacklisting those who voted according to their conscience can only lead to the opposite result," he wrote on his account on platform X.

In the program "Difficult Question," human rights activist Fuad Hasanov shared his opinion on this situation.

"This is not a good precedent," he said, noting that at the January PACE session, 76 out of 90 votes approved a resolution to deprive the Azerbaijani delegation of voting rights until the January PACE session of 2025. "Only 10 deputies voted 'against' this decision, and 4 abstained," the human rights activist stated.

According to him, it is unclear how those who voted against the Azerbaijani delegation will be identified, as decisions in PACE are made by secret ballot.

"How appropriate is the inclusion of individuals who voted against the Azerbaijani delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the 'persona non grata' list and the political statement made by the Foreign Ministry, and will this benefit Azerbaijan?" Hasanov asked.

At the same time, he believes that despite the tough standoff between Azerbaijan and PACE, the voting rights of the Azerbaijani delegation in the organization will be restored.