Azerbaijan bans PACE MPs – The Armenian Spectator-Mirror

YEREVAN (Lurer/Public Radio of Armenia) — Ahead of the COP29 climate change summit, Azerbaijan has banned several dozen members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) from entering the country. Baku explained that those deputies voted in favor of limiting the powers of the Azerbaijani delegation at the PACE meeting.

On August 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan announced that 76 politicians from 26 European countries will be denied the right to enter the country. The decision was taken after the vote held at the PACE in January, after which Azerbaijan was deprived of the right to vote in 2024.

Social Democrat Frank Schwabe, the head of the German delegation to the PACE, said that Azerbaijan had not fulfilled its obligations to the PACE, Baku was also criticized for arresting activists and journalists in the fall of 2023.

PACE cited the country’s failure to meet key commitments. The Assembly expressed serious concerns about Azerbaijan’s ability to hold free and fair elections, the separation of powers, the weakness of its legislature relative to the executive, the independence of the judiciary and respect for human rights. This resolution was adopted with 76 votes in favor, 10 against and 4 abstentions.

The assembly also highlighted the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, noting that Azerbaijan’s leadership “failed to recognize the very serious humanitarian and human rights consequences” resulting from the lack of free and safe access through the Lachin Corridor. The assembly also recalled its condemnation of the September 2023 military operation “which led to the flight of the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and accusations of ethnic cleansing.”

Schwabe submitted a request to participate in COP29 as part of the German delegation, but was informed that, like all the deputies who voted for the resolution in PACE, he was declared “personae non gratae” in Azerbaijan.