With COP29 due to take place in Baku from 11 to 22 November, the European Parliament spoke with one voice on Tuesday 22 October to denounce violations of the rights of activists and journalists in Azerbaijan. The Greens/EFA Group, in particular, is concerned that COPs are increasingly being held in countries that export fossil fuels. A number of elected representatives from different groups, including Renew Europe and the ECR, have called for a boycott of COP29.
European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit believes that “COP29 is an opportunity for Azerbaijani authorities to demonstrate commitment to their international human rights obligations”.
For their part, elected representatives are particularly up in arms about the fate of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlou, an economist and anti-corruption campaigner who has been sentenced to prison and is now under house arrest (Greens/EFA candidate for the Sakharov Prize). In their respective draft resolutions, most of the groups are calling for the charges against Dr Ibadoghlou to be dropped.
The political groups are also concerned about Azerbaijan-Armenia relations. François-Xavier Bellamy (EPP, French) described President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as “the persecutor of the Armenian people, whom he has attacked on several occasions”.
Finally, several MEPs also regretted that President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen had signed an agreement with Baku on gas supplies to replace imports from Russia.
On Thursday, the European Parliament will vote on a resolution on these issues. According to Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, French), the PfE and ESN groups “haven’t bothered to work on this resolution”. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)