Baku / 31.10.17 / Turan: Human rights, democracy and the rule of law are significant issues in the cooperation of the European Union and Azerbaijan and are part of the future agreement between the parties on partnership. This opinion was expressed by the head of the EU representation in Azerbaijan, Kestutis Jankauskas, speaking at the annual meeting Partnership for Good Governance for the countries of the Eastern Partnership in 2015-2018.
Opening the meeting, the head of the Baku office of the Council of Europe Zoltan Hernes said this regional program is carried out, taking into account the specific needs of each country.
The projects Application of the European Convention on Human Rights and Case Law of the European Court, Increasing the Efficiency and Quality of Judiciary, Enhancing Abilities in the Fight against Corruption and its Prevention, and Freedom of Media and Expression have been implemented or are nearing completion in Azerbaijan. Partners in the implementation of these projects are the Ministry of Justice, the Judicial Legal Council, the Office for Combating Corruption, and the institutions of civil society and the media.
According to him, the total cost of projects implemented in Azerbaijan has amounted to 4.6 million euros.
According to Hernes, at the forthcoming Eastern Partnership Summit on November 24 new directions for the implementation of the projects will be determined.
The head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, Ambassador Kestutis Jankauskas noted that human rights, democracy and the rule of law were the subject of close discussion on October 16-17 at a meeting of the profile sub-committee in Brussels.
He noted that in addition to the above projects, the EU provides assistance to Azerbaijan on a bilateral basis. Next on the agenda are projects to create a probation service and increase the capacity to combat money laundering.
Recently, a financial agreement was signed between the EU and Azerbaijan, for which 3 million euros are allocated for legal assistance to socially vulnerable people and for the fight against domestic violence.
As for the projects already implemented within the framework of the Partnership for Good Governance, despite certain results, there is a need to achieve more tangible results, he said.
Head of the Department of Human Rights and Democracy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Fakhraddin Ismayilov, noted the usefulness of projects within the framework of the Partnership for Good Governance. As an example, he indicated the training of human rights trainers for the Academy of Justice, who share knowledge with new staff.
Another positive example was the preparation of a curriculum for the Faculty of Journalism.
The Coordinator of the Council of Europe / European Union program Partnership for Good Governance, Arkady Sytin, said that in addition to 4.6 million euros of direct assistance, Azerbaijan received another 2 million euros in the framework of multilateral regional projects for the Eastern Partnership countries.
After the presentation for journalists, the meeting participants held working discussions on the results of the projects and planning for 2018. -06C--
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