Baku rejected claims of Vice President of European Commission

Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev received the Charge d'Affaires of the EU in Azerbaijan Toralf Pilts yesterday.

As the press service of the Foreign Ministry said, during the meeting they dealt with issues related to the recent statements of the Vice-President of the European Commission Neelie Kroes, who last week visited Baku in the framework of the Global Forum on Internet Governance.

Mammadguliyev noted that applications of Kroes on the forum and the article on her Twitter page about the situation in Azerbaijan in the field of human rights and freedom of expression do not reflect reality.

In this regard, he expressed dissatisfaction of the government of Azerbaijan and noted that such baseless statements are not consistent with the spirit of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU and could harm the bilateral relations.

Mammadguliyev also declared unfounded allegations of unauthorized interference in the personal computer of the assistant of Kroes.

Usually in such cases, they immediately contact the relevant local bodies. Mammadguliyev expressed surprise that Kroes did not do that.

As for the failed meeting of Kroes with prisoners, then, according to Mammadguliyev, this should be done with the consent of the relevant bodies of Azerbaijan. -06D-