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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO CENSURE 9 FOR AZERBAIJAN TRIP
http://asbarez.com/119463/european-parliament-to-censure-9-for-azerbaijan-trip/
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
The European Parliament building in Strasbourg
BRUSSELES--The European Parliament ethics committee is set to censure
a group of nine lawmakers who are suspected of accepting favors from
Azerbaijan during an electoral observation mission there in October
last year, the EurActive.com news portal reported Tuesday.
Kriistina Ojuland of Estonia, Jacek WÅ~Bosowicz of Poland, Slavi
Binev of Bulgaria, Jirà Maštálka of the Czech Republic, Ivo Vajgl
of Slovenia, Alexandra Thein of Germany, Hannu Takkula of Finland,
Oleg Valjalo of Croatia, and Nick Griffin of the UK all flew to
Azerbaijan last October to monitor the elections.
However, they purportedly "forgot" to tell Parliament that they had
been invited by the Azeri government and did not declare the trip on
their website, as required by the Assembly's new code of conduct.
The committee is also questioning whether the European Parliament
members were rewarded for this task, on top of the paid trip.
After their mission, the group produced a report describing the
elections as "free and fair." Embarrassingly, their assessment was
radically different from that of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe, which found "serious problems" related to
freedom of expression and assembly.
In a report published in November, the European Stability Initiative,
a think-tank, had already rung the alarm about the way the Azeri
elections were being monitored more generally.
According to the European Parliament's new code of conduct, adopted
last July, any kind of present, invitation to a football game, show
or trip must be mentioned on the lawmaker's website if its price
exceeds 150 euros.
"We are happy to see that the European Parliament actually is doing
something about the caviar diplomacy snaked in Brussels," said
European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (ANCA Europe)
Executive Director Bedo Demirdjian. "I hope they will open their
eyes on falsifications of history and facts that are being committed
by Azerbaijan."
http://www.euractiv.com/eu-elections-2014/european-parliament-examine-meps-news-533386
http://asbarez.com/119463/european-parliament-to-censure-9-for-azerbaijan-trip/
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
The European Parliament building in Strasbourg
BRUSSELES--The European Parliament ethics committee is set to censure
a group of nine lawmakers who are suspected of accepting favors from
Azerbaijan during an electoral observation mission there in October
last year, the EurActive.com news portal reported Tuesday.
Kriistina Ojuland of Estonia, Jacek WÅ~Bosowicz of Poland, Slavi
Binev of Bulgaria, Jirà Maštálka of the Czech Republic, Ivo Vajgl
of Slovenia, Alexandra Thein of Germany, Hannu Takkula of Finland,
Oleg Valjalo of Croatia, and Nick Griffin of the UK all flew to
Azerbaijan last October to monitor the elections.
However, they purportedly "forgot" to tell Parliament that they had
been invited by the Azeri government and did not declare the trip on
their website, as required by the Assembly's new code of conduct.
The committee is also questioning whether the European Parliament
members were rewarded for this task, on top of the paid trip.
After their mission, the group produced a report describing the
elections as "free and fair." Embarrassingly, their assessment was
radically different from that of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe, which found "serious problems" related to
freedom of expression and assembly.
In a report published in November, the European Stability Initiative,
a think-tank, had already rung the alarm about the way the Azeri
elections were being monitored more generally.
According to the European Parliament's new code of conduct, adopted
last July, any kind of present, invitation to a football game, show
or trip must be mentioned on the lawmaker's website if its price
exceeds 150 euros.
"We are happy to see that the European Parliament actually is doing
something about the caviar diplomacy snaked in Brussels," said
European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (ANCA Europe)
Executive Director Bedo Demirdjian. "I hope they will open their
eyes on falsifications of history and facts that are being committed
by Azerbaijan."
http://www.euractiv.com/eu-elections-2014/european-parliament-examine-meps-news-533386