The National Council condemns the anti-European position of the Azerbaijani authorities

On June 11 the Coordinating Center of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF)  discussed the situation around the EU's Eastern Partnership program,  in which Azerbaijan participates along with five other former Soviet countries.

The participants  listened to  Mehman Aliyev, the Director of Turan News Agency about  the international conference on intermediate results and prospects of the Eastern Partnership in Kiev on June 4-5 at the initiative of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics. The Coordinating Council welcomed the EU's decision on the conclusion of 27 June an Agreement on free trade with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

The Coordinating Council regarded this event as an important step in the integration of these countries into the European space, and create the conditions for progress in this direction, and other countries, including Azerbaijan.

Coordinating Council negatively evaluated refusal of the representative of the official Baku to participate in the conference, although other countries were represented at the highest levels of government. During the discussions, it was recommended to hold additional efforts to consolidate the society in order to implement international commitments made by the Government of Azerbaijan in the framework of the Eastern Partnership, as well as the OSCE, the Council of Europe.

The Coordinating Council believes that these commitments fully meet the aspirations of the Azerbaijani people, striving to build a legal, democratic state and a free, transparent market economy, without corruption and protectionism.

The members of the Coordinating Council  also called for increase of the  support for Ukraine's European choice and protection  from Russian aggression.-0—