On 13 and 14 May, celebrations are going to be held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of signing the agreement on Eastern Partnership programme between the EU and six post-Soviet countries – Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, the Ona.az [website] wrote on 10 May.
In particular, under the chairmanship of EU High Representative [for Foreign Affairs] Federica Mogherini, an annual meeting of 28 EU member states and the countries participating in the Eastern Partnership programme is going to be held on 13 May. During the meeting, they are going to discuss the progress, which has been achieved within the 20 Results project planned for 2020. On 14 May, in the Charlemagne building of the European Commission, a conference is going to be held with the participation of the heads of state and government chairmen of the Eastern Partnership countries, foreign ministers of the EU member states and representatives of civil society, youths and journalists.
On the eve of the anniversary events, the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) of Azerbaijan made a statement on the upcoming signing of an agreement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the EU.
"A complete and smooth transformation of Azerbaijani society into the European family is the best strategic choice in the best interests and aims of people," the statement said. Its authors emphasised the there is no alternative to this choice.
"It is necessary to draw Azerbaijan closer to the legal, political, and economic area of Europe, sharing the values and principles of human rights, supremacy of the law, democracy, free competition," the statement said.
The NCDF is in favour of the speediest signing of an agreement on comprehensive support, which implies "deep and comprehensive free trade".
"Azerbaijan should assume international obligations in the sphere of free trade. Only this can put an end to the bureaucratic and oligarchic monopoly and corruption in the country's economy, redeeming it from oil dependence," a member of the NCDF coordination centre, Vahid Maharramli told Kavkazsky Uzel on 12 May.
The NCDF shows support for any agreement with the EU, which implies Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty, the statement also said.
The NCDF shows full support for the European Parliament's resolutions on Azerbaijan, considering that a strategic partnership agreement should be signed only under the conditions envisioned by these resolutions.
The EU should encourage Azerbaijan to meet the requirements [fighting corruption, money laundering and tax avoidance, achieving progress in securing main freedoms, and release of arrested activists and journalists] set out in the resolutions, the document also said.
The NCDF thinks that Azerbaijan should meet the following requirements: Releasing all political prisoners, abolishing the practice of politically motivated arrests, and securing freedom of the mass media and meetings. Apart from this, according to the NCDF, the authorities of the country should take into account the OSCE's recommendations, introducing large-scale electoral reforms, including the enhancement of the electoral legislation.
According to the authors of the statement, the Azerbaijani authorities should also restore favourable conditions for the work of independent NGOs, stopping putting pressure on political parties and activists, taking real steps towards the country's joining the WTO, and carrying out fair reforms in the judiciary system.
According to the NCDF leader Camil Hasanli, the EU should take up a principled position when signing the new agreement.
"We would like to believe that the EU will take lessons of the past into consideration, in particular, the shameful "caviar diplomacy [reference to the bribery of PACE deputies, who took advantageous decisions for the Azerbaijani authorities]", which took place in the Council of Europe and which significantly undermined Azerbaijani citizens' trust in the honesty of European institutions. We cherish high hopes that the new agreement will not result from behind-the-scenes "compromises", which is effectively conformism. Releasing political prisoners, lifting restrictions on the activities of democratic institutions, and showing univocal support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity should become indispensable conditions for the new agreement," he told Kavkazsky Uzel.
Authorities should carry out reforms in human rights sphere
In the statement, which was disseminated on 11 May, the Republican Alternative (ReAl) party emphasised that the path to "ensuring sustainable development of Azerbaijan goes via increased cooperation with the EU".
ReAl stands for creating free trade zones, signing an association agreement with the EU, expanding partnership in the spheres of energy security and democracy.
"Signing an association agreement envisions creating free trade zones and speeding up integration in the EU economy. Apart from this, this liberalises and cancels the visa regime, simplifying by doing so human connections and reciprocal travel, and offering greater opportunities for access to quality higher education. However, Azerbaijan has unfortunately turned down the EU's offer to sign an agreement on free trade. As a result of the talks, the sides agreed to sign an agreement on strategic partnership. Against this background, our party agrees even with a document of the kind, as it may prove to be a road map leading to an association agreement," ReAl executive secretary Natiq Cafarli told Kavkazsky Uzel.
Members of the party think that the mechanisms for strengthening democratic institutions, commitment for holding free elections and reforms in the human rights should be fixed in the new agreement.
The authorities should release all political prisoners, bringing to a stop pressure on the opposition and civil society, and carrying out an electoral reform, the statement by the party emphasised.
"In the resolutions adopted in 2018 and January 2019, the European Parliament warned that it would not approve the agreement with Azerbaijan, unless the problem of political prisoners is resolved and progress is ensured regarding other issues of democratisation," Cafarli reminded.
Apart from this, the new agreement should fix the date of Azerbaijan's signing an agreement on joining the WTO and creating free trade zones with the EU, without which no real liberalisation and diversification of the economy is possible, he emphasised.
The EU should also univocally voice support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, Cafarli added.
"After the draft agreement was initialled and the text of the document was published, our party once again expressed its attitude towards the document. If the issues outlined by us fail to be reflected in the document, the party will reserve the right to campaign against signing the new agreement, calling the European Commission not to sign the document and the European Parliament not to ratify it," he recommended.
However, he finds it hard to say when the new agreement is expected to be signed.
"About one and a half months ago, there was information that the document would be signed or at least initialled in the middle of May. However, despite optimistic comments, the sides avoided announcing concrete dates. Recently, they have become cautious about forecasts. It seems that reaching agreement on all issues will take some more time," Cafarli said.
At the end of April, the head of the EU representation in Baku, Kestutis Jankauskas also found it difficult to name the date of signing the agreement.
"Without naming the date, I can say that we are going to work for speediest signing of the agreement," the Turan [website] reported quoting Jankauskas on 24 April.
In the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, they refused to give Kavkazsky Uzel a concrete date for signing the agreement under the pretext that the work was continuing.
Earlier, in April, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that more than 90 per cent of the text of the document had been agreed with the EU.
"Azerbaijan views the agreement on partnership with the EU as one of the extremely important basic documents, which open opportunities for settling different issues. We can proudly say that more than 90 per cent of the text has already been agreed on and that work is being carried out to reach agreement on the remaining part," the Trend [edition] reported, quoting Mammadyarov on 4 April.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister also emphasised that there were unsettled issues, which were related to the agreement, and that settling them "will require flexibility not only on the part of Azerbaijan, but also the EU.
EU Supreme Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini emphasised the importance of Azerbaijan as a partner of the EU.
"At present, we are at a final and decisive stage of talks on our new ambitious bilateral agreement, which, I am sure, will broaden and deepen our relations. This is sure to work in favour of our citizens in the EU and Azerbaijan. We share the aspiration for a speedy completion of talks," the edition quoted Mogherini on 4 April.
