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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Adalyat Verdiyev, the head of the civil defense staff at the public legal entity Center for Public Health and Reform under the Ministry of Health, and a military expert, has been arrested. On November 22, during a media tour to the liberated territories, Verdiyev filmed and published information and images on his social media accounts revealing Azerbaijani Armed Forces' combat positions in the heights, deployment sites, coordinates, and operational conditions of the border troops. This disclosure caused significant damage to the interests of state security and defense capability. This was stated in a report from the General Prosecutor’s Office.
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On Monday, the Baku Appeals Court considered the appeal of Talysh researcher Iqbal Abilov against the extension of his detention for another four months. The defense argued that the decision to extend Abilov's detention was unjustified, lawyer Fariz Namazly told reporters.
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"Black Monday in Georgia: Police and special forces guard the doors behind which the 'slaves of Georgian Dream' are destroying our Constitution and mocking our Parliament." This is how Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili commented on the convening of the new parliament on Monday, which is not recognized by the opposition.
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