15:16, 10 December 2018

Baku activists urge to consider human rights issues in Azerbaijan-EU agreement

More than 50 Azerbaijani activists have appealed to the authorities of the country and the European Union (EU), calling to accelerate the work on a new agreement on strategic partnership. They have urged to include the issue of legal and political reforms as priorities into the agreement.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 16, the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Relations recommended to include clauses on combating corruption and progress on fundamental freedoms in the country in the new agreement. Experts stated that the EU, when signing the agreement, would not be able to ignore the issues of democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan.

The petition is timed to the International Human Rights Day, marked on December 10, and the upcoming Eastern Partnership Forum on December 10-12, said Rasul Djafarov, one of the authors of the petition, the head of the Human Rights Club.

Activists have called on Baku and Brussels to take into account, in the cooperation agreement, a number of issues, which, in their opinion, will bring the country closer to European standards.

They also spoke in favour of a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 9, 2018 at 00:48 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent