Council of Europe should discuss future plans with Azerbaijan – PACE co-rapporteur

Azerbaijan has to do something to change the relationship between the parties, Norwegian MP and PACE co-rapporteur on Azerbaijan Lise Christoffersen told Alpha News.

“I wonder what initiative the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe will propose to establish a dialogue with Azerbaijan’s government. The question is what this dialogue should be about. Of course, it should be about the human rights situation in Azerbaijan because when it became a member state of the Council of Europe, it made commitments to the rule of law, democracy, and human rights.

Now, unfortunately, we see that things are going in the wrong direction, there are more and more political prisoners in the country, and this does not correspond to the values of the Council of Europe. I think we need to discuss and develop a common approach for PACE, the Secretary General, and the Committee of Ministers, sit down at the negotiating table and establish a real dialogue with the Azerbaijani authorities, develop an action plan, understand where we are moving and at what speed. We need to monitor. I believe the willingness to do this could perhaps push this a little further,” Christoffersen said.

Speaking about whether the European side should put forward conditions for normalizing relations with Azerbaijan, such as releasing Armenian political prisoners, the MP noted that this does not depend on her.

As a co-rapporteur, I should not start this kind of dialogue, this issue is decided at a higher institutional level, the level of the Council of Europe, she said.
She added that her job is to monitor and report so that the Council of Europe can draw conclusions and make a decision.

As for PACE, this is probably the presidential committee, the leaders of political groups, the President and the Secretary General, as well as the Committee of Ministers, where Azerbaijan is still present, she noted.