PACE representative from Germany challenges credentials of Azerbaijan’s delegation

Frank Schwabe, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) from Germany, challenged the credentials of Azerbaijan’s delegation to PACE at the Assembly session in Strasbourg on January 22.

According to Schwabe, Azerbaijan has seriously violated the principles and norms of both the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

“We have witnessed the deterioration of the situation and a number of problems related to both the sharp increase in political prisoners in the country and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, when Armenians were forced to leave their homeland, as well as when the organization’s representatives were not allowed into the Lachin corridor, and finally Azerbaijan’s refusal to send an invitation to PACE to observe the presidential election,” Schwabe noted.

Schwabe’s proposal was supported by at least thirty members of the Assembly.
According to the procedure, the Assembly’s Monitoring Committee should prepare a report, providing its opinion on Azerbaijan’s violations, as a result of which the powers of Azerbaijan’s delegation to PACE may be suspended.

The PACE debate on the report is scheduled for Wednesday, January 24.