“The role of civil society and mass
media in the Azerbaijan-EU relations
The
conference entitled “The role of civil
society and mass media in the
Azerbaijan-EU relations” within the
3rd South Caucasus Security Forum hosted
in Baku.
According
to APA, Eastern Partnership Civil
Society Forum’s national coordinator for
Azerbaijan Vugar Bayramov informed the
participants about the four multilateral
thematic platforms, which are democracy,
good management and stability; economic
integration and rapprochement with the
EU policy; energy security and human
relations. Vugar Bayramov said the first
phase of the Eastern Partnership Program
was carried out recently and the second
phase considered signing of associative
agreement. He said it would take place
not in near future because one of the
conditions of the associative agreement
is membership to the World Trade
Organization.
Executive director of the
Polish-Ukrainian Partnership Fund Jan
Pieklo called the Eastern Partnership
Program as the new component of the
cooperation between EU and former Soviet
countries. He specially emphasized the
role of the civil societies in this
cooperation.
Chairman of the Azerbaijan National
Committee for Integration into Europe
Vahid Gazi said Azerbaijan started its
integration into Europe in the beginning
of the last century. “First oil boom in
Azerbaijan brought European investment
and political pluralism”, said Vahid
Gazi and noted the Democratic Republic
of Azerbaijan was founded by the people
educated in Europe. He said the European
Union came to the region later, but it
is the stronger force now. Vahdi Gazi
said the Eastern Partnership is a
serious tool for integration into
Europe.
Representative
of the Georgian Strategic and
International Researches Kakha
Gogolashvili called the Eastern
Partnership Program as the development
of integration into Europe. Speaking
about the role of the civil society in
this process, Gogolashvili said the
democratic society couldn’t be
established in 2-3 years, and this
process took centuries in Europe. He
said the civil society is not
opposition, but it is a branch
supporting the government. He said there
is constructive cooperation between the
civil society and the government
in Georgia.
According
to APA, Eastern Partnership Civil
Society Forum’s national coordinator for
Azerbaijan Vugar Bayramov informed the
participants about the four multilateral
thematic platforms, which are democracy,
good management and stability; economic
integration and rapprochement with the
EU policy; energy security and human
relations. Vugar Bayramov said the first
phase of the Eastern Partnership Program
was carried out recently and the second
phase considered signing of associative
agreement. He said it would take place
not in near future because one of the
conditions of the associative agreement
is membership to the World Trade
Organization. 
Representative
of the Georgian Strategic and
International Researches Kakha
Gogolashvili called the Eastern
Partnership Program as the development
of integration into Europe. Speaking
about the role of the civil society in
this process, Gogolashvili said the
democratic society couldn’t be
established in 2-3 years, and this
process took centuries in Europe. He
said the civil society is not
opposition, but it is a branch
supporting the government. He said there
is constructive cooperation between the
civil society and the government
in Georgia.