EU Believes in Azerbaijan There Is Still Civil Society Able to Cooperate

Despite the promotion of cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan in 2014 on a number of areas in the field of democracy there was regress. In particular, conditions for civil society worsened. These conclusions follow from the European Commission report on the implementation of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) in Azerbaijan.

On Wednesday, the EU representative in Azerbaijan Malena Mard held a press conference dedicated to the report promulgated on 25 March.

First, she focused attention on the areas where progress has been made. So, from September 1, 2014 an agreement came to force on visa facilitation and readmission, which contributed to the increase in the number of mutual visits.

In 2014, Azerbaijani citizens were given 75 thousand Schengen visas, which is 10 thousand more than the previous year.

The EU is the largest trading partner and investor in Azerbaijan and appreciates the steps to diversify the economy and support the idea of ​​joining the WTO.

"Good" cooperation is kept in the energy sector, where important steps are taken to implement the project "Southern Gas Corridor".

"But there are issues of concern, which is associated with the transition to democracy," said Mard, noting a regression in this area.

"This is due to limited opportunities for activists and human rights organizations. We will continue to attach great importance to the development of civil society. We hope for a speedy adoption of a new mechanism for registering grants," she said.

In recent years, the EU has funded 14 projects on civil society in Azerbaijan, which cost 3 million Euros.

On the question of Turan with whom the EU intends to continue to cooperate in civil society if many activists who share European values are in custody or left the country, Mard said: "Not all civil society activists were arrested. We have expressed concern about the arrests. These issues were discussed during the visit to Baku of the EU Special Representative for Human Rights a few weeks ago. We believe that there are opportunities for cooperation with government and civil society."

The diplomat made it clear that the EU does not put forward new requirements, as all these issues are under the international obligations of Azerbaijan to UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe.

In 2014-2017 EU plans to provide assistance to Azerbaijan for 94 million Euros. These funds will be directed to the development of education, agriculture, and reforms in the sphere of justice.

In particular, 20 million Euros will be spent on the development of vocational education and the promotion of student exchange.

Mard also focused attention on the plans to change the shape of the European Neighborhood Policy in autumn 2015. These issues are one of the goals of the upcoming April 8 visit to Baku of the Commissioner for European Neighborhood and Expansion Policy, Johannes Hahn.

The new program ENP implies a differentiated policy toward partners. This is due to the fact that some partners want more in-depth partnership and have signed associative relationship, while others are not ready for this and want cooperation within the adapted agreement, Mard said.

Referring to the Karabakh conflict, Mard noted that the EU is against the status quo and supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and is ready to contribute to efforts to strengthen mutual trust.

Does the EU support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? In answering this question, Mard said that support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan was expressed in the agreement on cooperation and partnership of 1996. -06B-