Azerbaijancalls upon all six member states to uphold Belarus’ right for full participation in the EURONEST, Chairman of the Azeri parliamentary permanent committee for legal policy and nation-building, head of the Azeri parliamentary delegation to the EURONEST Ali Guseinov told media in Minsk on 21 April.
The official stated that after the presidential elections in Belarus, and more exactly, after the events that followed the elections, the European Parliament took a decision to launch the EURONEST without Belarus. Ali Guseinov added that European MPs did not take into account the opinion of the parliamentarians of the state parties, including Azerbaijan.
He reminded reporters of the Prague summit where an agreement was reached on full participation in the EURONEST for all the six participating states. In this respect the actions of the European Parliament that followed the summit just baffled the Azeri representative.
The Azerbaijani parliament strongly disagrees with such decisions. The Azeri official is convinced that no elections can influence the EURONEST composition as members to this organization were elected long before the presidential elections in 2010.
In his words, on 3 May Brussels will host a ceremony of signing EURONEST documents. “As far as I know the issue on Belarus is not even in the foundation documents. The new regulations contain the following element: a country which election system complies with the OSCE standards may partake in the EURONEST,” he said. Keeping in mind the fact that the OSCE did not recognize the presidential elections in Belarus, the country has automatically lost its right to take part in the EURONEST.
Ali Guseinov also mentioned a letter signed by the speakers of the six member states not long ago. They confirmed in it a necessity for Belarus’ full participation in the EURONEST. “The letter remains in force. We must not draw off those positions as the EURONEST consists of two parts – the European Parliament and parliamentary delegations of six participating states. We are all equal here,” the politician stressed. He suggested the state parties to unite the efforts to support Belarus’ full participation in the EURONEST.
