Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan calls upon all six member states to uphold Belarus’ right for participation in the Euronest, a legislative body of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership program, a senior Azerbaijani lawmaker was quoted by Belarusian Belta news agency as saying.

Ali Huseynov, head of the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to the Euronest, told the press in Minsk on Thursday that after the presidential elections in Belarus, which were not recognized by the EU, the European Parliament decided to launch the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly without Belarus. Huseynov said that European MPs did not take into account the views of the lawmakers of the participating states, including Azerbaijan.

Huseynov reminded of the Prague summit where an agreement was reached on full participation in the Euronest for all the six participating states - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus. In this respect the actions of the European Parliament that followed the summit "just baffled" the Azerbaijani representative.

Huseynov said the Azerbaijani parliament strongly disagrees with the decision.

"I am convinced that no elections can influence the Euronest composition, as members to this organization were elected long before the presidential elections in 2010."

According to Huseynov, on May 3 Brussels will host the ceremony of signing Euronest documents.

"As far as I know, the Belarus issue is not even in the basic documents. The new regulations contain the following element: a country whose election system complies with OSCE standards may partake in the Euronest," Huseynov said. Keeping in mind the fact that the OSCE did not recognize the presidential elections in Belarus, the country has automatically lost its right to take part in the Euronest.

Huseynov also mentioned a letter signed by the speakers of the six member states a while ago, which confirmed the need of Belarus’ full participation in the Euronest.

"The letter remains in force. We must not draw off those positions as the Euronest consists of two parts – the European Parliament and parliamentary delegations of the six participating states. We are all equal here," he said, suggesting that the participating countries join effort to support Belarus.

Euronest is to comprise ten lawmakers from each of the six countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program, along with 60 members of the European Parliament. The goal of setting up the assembly is to further expand cooperation between the EU and the participating nations.

The Eastern Partnership program envisages simplified visa regulations, free trade and closer energy cooperation, but membership in the EU is not on the agenda at this point. The participating countries are required to bring their laws into compliance with EU standards, pursue economic reforms and bolster democratic development.