On the 26 th of February the Center for National and International Studies held its next conference in the series  of round tables dedicated to the 96th anniversary of  the first Azerbaijan Democratic Republic ( 1918-1920). The conference “The West’s Energy Interests and Democracy Promotion : Will The Foreign Policy Dilemma Ever Be Solved?” was a continuation of the topic, discussed at the first conference and devoted to the politics in the energy rich states. On a very short notice, the CNIS was denied the venue previously agreed with the ISR Plaza hotel, so the conference took place...


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Yesterday an expert event of Eastern Partnership advocators - EU officials, journalists, think tank and civil society representatives took place in the European Parliament. An event, organised by the EaP Civil Society Forum focused on the future strategy for European integration in the Eastern Neighbourhood, challenges and lessons learnt. The speakers included high officials - Henri Malosse, President of the EESC, Philip Mikos, Head of Unit, Regional Programmes Neighbourhood East, DG Europe Aid and representatives of the Steering Committee of the EaP Civil Society Forum - Jeff Lovitt, Jan Peiklo...


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On the 10th of February two CSF Steering Committee members Jeff Lovitt and Leila Alieva participated in the Euronest Standing Committee on Political Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy that meets twice a year, consisting of European Parliament delegation and the Eastern European Partners' (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) delegations. The speakers from European External Action Service (Gunnar Wiegand) and the European Commission (Michael Koehler) talked about the prospect of the Eastern Partnership until the 2015 Summit in Riga and the European Neighborhood Instrument for 2014-2020. Jeff...


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EU-Azerbaijan: Driven by strategic importance, lacking value-based impact Heinrich Boell Stiftung, Nov. 2013 by Leila Alieva The EU-Azerbaijan ENP agreement signed in 2006 was met with substantial enthusiasm from society and was followed by official statements on the commitment to integration in the EU. At that point, the three states of the South Caucasus were equally eager to become one step closer to the European club. The civil society of Azerbaijan proved its devotion to the ideas of European integration by initiating a national campaign in 2006 to include "European aspirations" in the text...


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Civic Solidarity Platform membersregret thatduring her recent visit to Central Asia the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs did not publicly engage on human rights issues in a more substantive manner. This is particularly disappointing as the EU is about to receive the Nobel Peace Price for its ‘advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights’. Between 27 and 30 November 2012, Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, undertook her first official visit to four of the five Central Asian republics:...


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