Neelie Kroes: in Azerbaijan I remembered Malala

Vice-President of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes, who visited Baku last week, wrote on her page on Twitter  an article that shows how much she was impressed with what she saw.

"The European Union is not only a common market, and not only peace keeper- a place of fundamental rights.  The rights  which we value, and which  we protect and provide for our citizens. Internet is not just a set of technologies, or just a place for business opportunities, it is - the new frontier of freedom. And  such  people, as Malala Yousafzai, inspiring young people , are  reminder of this.  I thought about all this, I thought dealing with the Internet community and the President of Azerbaijan during a fascinating trip to Baku," she wrote.

"This little country has a rich past and present. The country located between Russia and Iran, and which is divided into two parts, full of oil and gas.  There are  amazing artists in this country, but  the government  has very careful attitude toward freedom and democracy. I have long wondered : should I attend the Internet Governance Forum in Baku? Dozens of journalists, bloggers and human rights activists with whom I met there, felt that this was helpful. When the Internet is held  in a particular city, radical changes often follow it. It happened in Tunisia and Egypt, a year after the same conference was held there. 

But, on the other hand, I was deprived of meetings with political prisoners, despite the promise of the   president of the country. During the Forum, the activists were pressured  at  Internet conference. Computers  of my advisors have been hacked. Such an openness!" ironically said  the  Vice President of the EU.

"In fact, in Azerbaijan, everything is quite different. We see a lot of restrictions on the media, for freedom of expression people can be brought to justice. We see violent attacks on journalists, while even before the Eurovision contest the Azerbaijani government promised to ensure freedom of the press, but the situation has worsened. I made it clear that this is unacceptable.

I would like to point out that freedom of the press and freedom of expression  are not brilliant throughout the EU. However, as I wrote earlier, we have recently seen the problems in Hungary, Bulgaria and Greece, while office of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo was burnt in France. But let's make it clear that in Europe, people are not imprisoned for their opinions, or posting  a video on YouTube," continued the vice-president.

"In Azerbaijan, the Internet is a double-edged sword. Unlike neighboring Turkey and Iran, in  Azerbaijan everyone has access - but, on the other hand, they face problems, if  the use of the Internet in a way that annoys the government.

However, I am sure that in the end the power of the Internet and the value of freedom will prevail. Today the world celebrates the Day of Malala, a 14-year-old Pakistani girl who is in her blog under the tyranny of the Taliban, called to protect the rights of women to education. She was shot in the face by the Taliban, but this coward act shows how much they hated the fact that  Internet is able to do. However, they were able to get her to shut up! Thank to the Internet, someone, somewhere else, always keep fighting.

You can count on me  in protection  human rights and democracy within and outside the EU. I hope  that you will join me," wrote in the conclusion Neelie Kroes. -02D-