EU assesses Azerbaijan’s progress on neighborhood policy
BAKU – The European Union has presented its 2010 report as part of its revised Neighborhood Policy assessing Azerbaijan’s achievements and outstanding shortfalls, head of the EU delegation to the country, Roland Kobia, said on Thursday.
The report claims that there was "no substantial progress with respect to democracy and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms" in Azerbaijan last year.
Kobia told a news conference in Baku that another drawback cited in the report is what is deemed as lack of progress toward the country’s admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"WTO admission is a pre-condition for Azerbaijan’s accession to the European free trade area," he said.
The paper does, however, point out that the country fared well economically despite the global financial crisis and that Baku made progress in areas related to macroeconomic stability and the fight against poverty.
"The start of EU-Azerbaijan talks on Association Agreements as well as some progress in the area of gender equality were regarded as positive developments [in the report]," Kobia added.
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