According to the EP, the PACE plans to impose restrictions on the Azerbaijani delegation in the same scenario as they did earlier with regard to the Russian delegation. “The decision in principle to initiate restrictions for Azerbaijan has already been made at the level of the PACE Presidential Committee. In the afternoon, with the start of the plenary session, the members will officially initiate this procedure, most likely on the formal initiative of the German representative,” the sources of the publication say, specifying that “the official complaint against the country will be that PACE observers were not invited to the presidential elections in Azerbaijan to be held in February.“
To say that this is a ridiculous complaint is to say nothing. Especially since the elections are presidential, not parliamentary. But what do we have behind the scenes?
Is the PACE leadership simply succumbing to childish resentment? Hardly. In reality, a dirty and cynical game is being played against Azerbaijan. Recall that at least since the beginning of the 2010s Russia has been making Herculeanefforts to drive a solid wedge between Azerbaijan and the West, using the tools of the West itself. In 2011-2012, when Azerbaijan was preparing to host the Eurovision Song Contest, German Social Democrats, heavily “fed” by Russia’s Gazprom, were at the forefront of those “concerned about human rights”. Then there were French politicians like Valérie Pécresse, with her close friendship with undercover KGB agents. Various far right-wingers and Islamophobes openly sponsored by the Kremlin. And now the top brass of PACE is in the lead.
Information that the PACE leadership has strong ties to the Russian security services is regularly circulated in the media. Former CoE Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland was credibly accused of ties with the Kremlin (and although the visit of the PACE human rights mission to occupied Crimea is not direct evidence, this precedent speaks volumes).
The current President of the PACE, Tiny Kox, owes a lot to Moscow: his election to the post was lobbied for by Russian GRU agents. At least, this is what Dossier reported back in 2022. Tiny Kox denied the accusations verbally, and that was enough for the Council of Europe.
But do they really believe these dirty games will be impossible to figure out? Needless to say, with this decision the PACE is unlikely to exert pressure on Azerbaijan (one cannot use the language of pressure with Baku at all), but it will cheapen its own “tools” and reputation down to the limit. There is not much left of it as it is.
