Azernews.Az

BAKU – Euronest parliamentary assembly, a newly established body of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership program, will hold its second session in the Azerbaijani capital Baku next May.

The decision was passed at a bureau meeting held as part of the assembly’s first session on Wednesday, head of Azerbaijan’s Euronest delegation Elkhan Suleymanov told AssA-Irada.

Euronest comprises lawmakers from each of the six countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program - Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova and Belarus - as well as 60 members of the European Parliament. The goal of the assembly is to expand cooperation between the EU and the participating nations.

The Euronest bureau in June discussed Azerbaijan’s proposal to host the next plenary session of the assembly. Ukraine, Georgia and Euronest Co-President Kristian Vigenin voted for Baku’s initiative. Armenia, Azerbaijan’s long-time foe, bureau members Saryuj-Volsky of Poland and Traian Ungureanu of Romania opposed the initiative, and Moldova abstained. Since the Azerbaijani proposal had not been approved by a two-thirds majority, the bureau decided to reconsider the proposal in September.

According to Suleymanov, at Wednesday’s meeting the Polish MP opposed holding Euronest sessions in the Eastern Partnership states over the next two years.

"I said upfront that this suggestion clearly leads to discrimination against Eastern Partnership countries and double standards in the preamble of cooperation based on the principles of reliability, mutual confidence and transparency, and overall, turns it [Euronest] into a meaningless organization," Suleymanov said. "And the Eastern Partnership countries, particularly, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, supported me on that."

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