Catherine Ashton and Štefan Füle criticize amendments to the legislation on NGOs in Azerbaijan

 The spokespersons of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton  and Commissioner Štefan Füle  issued the  statement about  amendments to the legislation on non-governmental organisations in Azerbaijan.

"The High Representative and the Commissioner are concerned by recent amendments to  NGO legislation in Azerbaijan restricting the environment for an independent and critical civil  society, especially in the field of human rights and democracy. 

In view of Azerbaijan's upcoming chairmanship of the Council of Europe's Committee of  Ministers, the High Representative and the Commissioner call upon the Azerbaijani  authorities to abide by their international commitments and to review the law on NGOs with  a view to addressing the concerns formulated by the Venice Commission. In particular, they call upon the authorities in Azerbaijan to improve and facilitate the registration procedures for international NGOs, creating an environment conducive for all NGOs to carry out their legitimate activities”, – reads the statement. -0-