Problems of NGOs of Eastern Partnership Countries Discussed in Estonia

Tallinn / 27.101.17 / Turan: The conference of the EU's Eastern Partnership program on the topic "Tangible Results for People: Envisioning the Eastern Partnership in 2020 and Beyond" ended in the capital of Estonia on Friday.

Over three days, more than 100 NGO representatives from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus shared their successes and experiences, discussed the problems and the necessary steps to develop the civil society of the Eastern Partnership countries.

The participants noted the full readiness of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova for European integration in connection with the successful development of the non-governmental sector of these countries.

The situation with civil society in Armenia was also noted as satisfactory. A negative example was the situation of NGOs in Azerbaijan and Belarus.

The European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Expansion Johannes Han noted that the European Union is trying to help the civil society of Azerbaijan, but there are legislative limitations in the country.

Representatives of Azerbaijani NGOs did not conceal in the course of the discussions that unlike colleagues from other countries, they should not boast of anything. They criticized the conference organizers who did not include representatives of Baku in the list of speakers on the panels.

The head of the Institute for Reporters" Freedom and Security Emin Huseynov in a conversation with the correspondent of Turan noted that representatives of all countries except Azerbaijan were on the list of speakers at the sessions.

The human rights activist Anar Mammadli, in turn, said the civil society of Azerbaijan is in a "paralyzed" state and programs within the framework of the Eastern Partnership are minimized.

The Eastern Partnership is the most favorable trend in the region, but Azerbaijan remains aloof from this.

"The Azerbaijani authorities must remove the legislative restrictions on NGOs, but in the matter of European integration the Azerbaijani authorities do not want to go beyond energy," he complained.

It should be noted that the a pleasant event also took place for Azerbaijani NGOs at this forum; a well-known economist Sabit Bagirov was elected coordinator of the economic group. -71D-