Serbian MP Slams PACE For Excluding Azerbaijani Delegation
Date
10/2/2024 8:08:39 AM
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 2. The Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) undermines its legitimacy
by excluding the Azerbaijani delegation, said Member of the Serbian
PACE delegation Elvira Kovács, Trend reports.
"PACE is the European Political body with the widest democratic
legitimacy since it reflects the parliaments' composition of almost
all European countries. Hence, diminishing this scope always
carries the risk of undermining its own legitimacy. This might be
the case with the decision from January this year not to ratify the
credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation," she said.
Kovács pointed out that, with such a decision, PACE undermines
its legitimacy, together with its credibility as a platform for
meaningful dialogue, since at least 10 million citizens of a
European country are no longer represented within its ranks and are
left without a voice.
"Today, Azerbaijan is a valuable factor in the international
order based on law, peace and security. The high achievements of
its culture are an inseparable tile of the European cultural mosaic
and its natural resources are of vital importance for the
well-being of our continent. Azerbaijan is located in a region
where the values of the Council of Europe are not without those who
contest them, nor are they unquestionably accepted as the optimal
form for the life. I believe that the denial of credentials to the
Azerbaijani delegation in the body of the Council of Europe in
which the citizens are most directly represented was wrong," she
added.
The MP is convinced that the full participation of the
Azerbaijani delegation in PACE's work would influence the
polarisation of European values and democratic procedures among
this significant population.
"I would like to support and call for a return to dialogue and
the resumption of participation of the Azerbaijani delegation in
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. I hope that we
could agree that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe should function as a platform for dialogue on an equal and
inclusive basis, and should prioritise the advancement of this
idea," Kovács concluded.
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