Strasbourg, 13/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - Last Thursday, the Parliament adopted a joint resolution on Azerbaijan, deploring the refusal by the Mayor of Baku to allow opposition parties to hold a meeting on 21 May, and police violence against journalists and individuals attending. Arrests and detentions of activists and were politically motivated, in the Parliament's view, and it calls for an in-depth investigation into these events and speaks out strongly against the assassination of journalist Elmar Huseynov last March. On the other hand, it welcomes measures taken by the Azerbaijan authorities in support of the liberation of 114 people imprisoned after the presidential elections of 2003, and calls upon the government to ensure that the correct frequency for parliamentary elections is observed, holding the next inones in November 2005. During the debate, Marios Matsakis (ALDE, Cyprus) voiced his concerns at the current climate of violence in Baku, which "may well continue until the Parliamentary elections of November", in a facsimile of the scenario of 2003, and Robert Evans (PES, UK) echoed his words. We need more "coherence" in the support the EU provides to democratisation movements in various countries, particularly the former Soviet republics, which are less economically interesting, said Erik Meijer (GUE-NGL, Netherlands). Stating that overall, Azerbaijan is "not turned towards the West", Bastiaan Belder (IND-DEM, Netherlands) also pleaded in favour of "clear language with regard to the opposition" in Azerbaijan, and in favour of EU observers being sent to the forthcoming elections. Marie Anne Isler Beguin (French Green) pointed out that there was no excuse for the behaviour of the authorities, but at the situation was partly down to the "frozen" conflict of the High Karabbach. Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Neelie Kroes called on the local authorities to assure their "full respect for OSCE commitments" during the elections, for which there will be no European mission on the ground, she said, adding however that the "EU will support the OSCE human rights committees". She pointed out that all activities must be assessed in terms of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which "implies the respect of certain values".