Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The European Union believes in progress on the agreements on visa facilitation and readmission between the EU and Azerbaijan, the signing of which is expected at the Vilnius summit, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule said, according to the EU website.

Fule said at a meeting of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in Chisinau that the EU will also monitor the presidential elections in Azerbaijan and Georgia.

He said that political changes are needed to move towards a profound democracy.

"Cooperation between the government and civil society is crucial for systemic introduction of anti-corruption measures or for the creation of an independent legal system, which are the essential elements of long-term political and sustainable economic development. Likewise, free and fair elections are a central element of the overall democracy," Fule said.

Fule also said the European Commission will continue to create for the Eastern Partnership countries important financial opportunities to support the efforts on civil society participation in the implementation of national reforms and democratic development.

Azerbaijan-EU relations are based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that was signed in 1996 in Luxembourg and came into force in 1999. In 2009, the EU foreign ministers granted the European Commission a mandate to start negotiations on the conclusion of bilateral association agreements between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia on the one hand and the EU on the other. These agreements will serve as a new practical instrument to replace bilateral action plans.

Azerbaijan is also a part of the EU Eastern Partnership program adopted at the initiative of Poland and Sweden and approved at the EU summit in Brussels in 2008. It is aimed at improving the EU's relations with six former Soviet countries -- Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia.