The EU is ready to enhance cooperation with Azerbaijan on all levels, but the government in Baku needs to improve respect for fundamental rights and bring election legislation into line, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle said December 9 after taking part in the Cooperation Council between Azerbaijan and the European Union in Brussels.
Speaking to journalists at a press conference afterward, he said: “We are glad to see Azerbaijan and the European Union moving closer to each other. Our cooperation is bearing fruit – just look at the results of the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius and the signature of the Visa Facilitation Agreement” – agreements that would boost people to people contacts.
“And we want to enhance this cooperation on all levels. The negotiations on the Association Agreement and a Strategic Modernization Partnership continue,’ said Füle, adding the EU would like to accelerate the pace of negotiations. He encouraged Azerbaijan to intensify its work towards the WTO accession, “which is a precondition to further advance our trade relations by eventually establishing a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area”.
At the same time, the Commissioner stressed that respect for fundamental freedoms was an essential element of relations. “We call on Azerbaijan to respect its international commitments in this regard. There is still a lot to be done in areas such as freedom of the media, freedom of assembly, freedom of association.”
And he added: “It is equally important to bring electoral legislation in line with the recommendations of the OSCE/ ODIHR. This needs to happen soon so that Azerbaijan can deliver fair and transparent municipal elections next year and parliamentary elections in 2015. There is also important work to be done to address corruption.”
Füle said Azerbaijan could count on EU support in all these areas. “We are committed to continue and to deepen our frank and open dialogue. We are committed to make our cooperation mutually enriching. We will be as ambitious as our partners are willing to be, and we will deliver to the extent to which our partners are able to deliver on reforms.” -0-
Politics
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The Tbilisi-based Institute for the Protection of Rights and Freedoms issued a statement in connection with the ban to Afghan Sadigov, the founder of the Azerbaijani website Azel.tv on travel from Georgia to third countries to the founder of the Azerbaijani website Azel.tv. The statement of the organization, established in 2018 by a group of Azerbaijani political emigrants, notes that Sadigov moved to Georgia in connection with the repression in Azerbaijan against human rights defenders, journalists and opposition activists.
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The preliminary investigation against economist Fazil Gasymov, who has been on a hunger strike for 35 days in the pre-trial detention centre, has been completed. At present, Gasymov and his lawyers are familiarising themselves with the seven-volume criminal case, his defender Rovshana Rahimova told Turan.
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Amendments have been made to the "Rules on the Form, Content, and Submission of Annual Financial Reports of Non-Governmental Organizations."
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Azerbaijan and the European Union have established a strategic partnership in the energy sector, and it provides for doubling Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe by the end of 2027. This was stated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on July 18 in his speech at the round table on "Energy and Communications" held within the framework of the 4th Summit of the European Political Community in Oxford.
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