AED Calls on the Country to Deepen Relations with the EU within the Framework of "Eastern Partnership"

Azerbaijan European Movement (AED) is preparing an appeal to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to support the new initiatives to implement the EU "Eastern Partnership", to be put forth at the Vilnius summit of EU cooperation with six post-Soviet countries, as told to Turan by the head of AED, Ramin Hajily.

According to him, the AED supports strengthening the partnership with the EU, to the signing of an agreement on the associative relationships and facilitation of the visa regime.

Commenting on the appeal from the group of journalists and cultural figures to the President to reconsider Azerbaijan's participation in the Eastern Partnership, Hajily noted that the first Article of the Concept of National Security of Azerbaijan, defines integration into Euro-Atlantic space as a priority of foreign policy.

The alternative to this, according to Hajily, may be to return to the 200-year colonial history of Azerbaijan, but Azerbaijani society is not likely to want it.

"Are the European values ??of democracy and human rights poor? Facilitation of the visa regime will contribute to the exchange of visits, cultural and educational exchange," said Hajily.

However, he stressed that the strategic partnership provides not only economic and trade cooperation, but also commitment to common values??. -06B-