Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The Council of Europe (CoE) wants to work with Azerbaijan to improve freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland made the remarks speaking to journalists in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 22.

"I am here, first of all, to start with the authorities the Action Plan for Azerbaijan. I have seen a lot of interesting things, good things that are going on in Azerbaijan," the secretary general said.

He went on to add that the CoE wants to work with Azerbaijani authorities to improve the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and functioning of judiciary.

Jagland also stressed that he appreciates the work done by Azerbaijan with regard to dealing with diversity of culture and religion.

Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the CoE secretary general noted that the conflicting parties should achieve the settlement of this conflict.

Since becoming a member state of the CoE in January 2001, Azerbaijan has been actively and vigorously cooperating with all working institutions of the Council of Europe.

Azerbaijan took the chairmanship at the Committee of Ministers - the Council of Europe's decision-making body- on May 14, 2014. It is considered to be the guardian of the Council of Europe's fundamental values, as human rights, democracy and rule of law and it monitors member states' compliance with their undertakings.

Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the Committee of Minister will end in November when it's handed over to Belgium.