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, AzVision.az 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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