The Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan considers the adoption by the European Parliament on 25 April 2024 of a resolution on civil society and human rights in Azerbaijan to be departed from objectivity and a biased political action against our country, and categorically refutes the unfounded accusations that are based on false and misleading information. It is deplorable that this international organisation would become a tool in the hands of the forces that have been pursuing a hostile and libellous campaign against Azerbaijan ever since the conclusion of the Garabagh War II which put an end to the 30-year-long Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands. It is no coincidence that the European Parliament has passed 8 resolutions levelled at Azerbaijan under various pretexts since 2021.

While steps are being taken after the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan to advance the normalisation process, in particular, when the first encouraging results have been achieved in the field of border delimitation, this latest action by the European Parliament represents a move by the forces unwilling to accept the new realities in the South Caucasus due to being overwhelmed by crusader mentality – a move aimed at damaging the reputation of the Republic of Azerbaijan and undermining the peace process.

All that signifies a further recent escalation of the Azerbaijanophobic, Turkophobic and Islamophobic sentiments that prevail in this organisation. On the other hand, that the said resolution, drafted upon the initiative of the MEPs who have tenaciously been acting against Azerbaijan, would be tabled in the first place gives one an idea of the scale of influence of the Armenian Lobby and of the forces supporting it upon the European Parliament.

The fact that a number of MEPs represent the interests of lobby groups rather than European voters testifies to their racist and chauvinist position. The authors of the resolution are even prepared to disrupt the European Union's co-operation with Azerbaijan so long as they are able to achieve their nefarious political goals, jeopardising EU policy in the South Caucasus as a whole.

As regards the unfounded claims contained in the resolution, it is to be said that Azerbaijan has always remained committed to protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, ensuring the supremacy of law and fulfilling purposefully the principles of legal state. A third of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan is dedicated to the human rights and fundamental freedoms. The construction and unimpeded operation of democratic institutions in our country, creation of the main components of civil society and other factors demonstrate the determination and will of the Azerbaijani State to move forward along the path of democratic development.

A biased, double-standard-based assessment of the situation in Azerbaijan with regards to the protection of human rights and freedoms, including the right to form associations, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of access to information, is clearly inadmissible. It is also regrettable that the European Parliament, which does not hesitate to slander Azerbaijan in regard to the protection of human rights and freedoms, has always preferred to keep silent about the violation of the human dignity of more than 1 million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons who were expelled from their native lands during the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia, and who were subjected to ethnic cleansing and genocide, and were deprived of all rights and freedoms.

The other aspect of the matter consists in the ambiguity as to what logic underpins the urge to describe as ‘political prisoners’ those persons convicted by judicial decisions for specific criminal acts or to demand the unconditional release of the persons charged under the relevant articles of criminal law because of the well-founded opinion that such acts were committed by them. No one person and no organisation have the right to maintain that people’s social stances entitle them to immunity from prosecution.

It should be mentioned that such biased campaigns targeting our country are dealing a further blow to the reputation of the European Parliament whilst also undermining the growth prospects of the bilateral relations. The Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan is calling upon the European Parliament to abstain from such acts as reduce to naught the work done in the field of democratic development in our country; to take an unbiased position regarding matters concerning our country; and not to support unilateral approaches based on political agendas. At the same time, the Parliament of Azerbaijan now declares that no force will ever be able to turn Azerbaijan from the path of democratic development.