“DER STANDARD”: LOBBYISTS OF AZERBAIJAN PUT IN PLACE IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
19:27 19/02/2015 >> SOCIETY
There’s nothing new in the fact that the authorities in Azerbaijan
have to spend millions of dollars on lobbyists to shape a favourable
image for their country and to prevent criticism against the regime.
Yet, the resources spent are not able to reach their goal, Azerbaijani
newspaper “Azadlig” writes, referring to the article published in
the prestigious German outlet “Der Standard”.
According to the article, Teresa Eder, in her article “How
authoritarian regimes influence on the EU countries” says that the
vice-president of the European Parliament, head of delegation of
the Greens group in the European Parliament Ulrike Lunacek gave a
negative response to the request of the lobbyists of the Azerbaijani
authorities.
“Der Standard” also highlights that, as it is well-known, the European
Olympic Games are due in June in Baku, and that’s the very reason
why the Azerbaijani authorities planned a propagandistic event in the
European Parliament. However, the members of the European Parliament
didn’t let these plans come true.
According to the newspaper, the incident was registered in January
during the discussions of the report proposed by the “Corporate
Europe Observatory”. The report held details regarding the lobbying
organisations’ activities of such authoritarian regimes as Azerbaijan,
Ruanda, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Nigeria and others, in the territories
of the EU countries.
During the discussions of the report, Ivo Ilich Gabara, a British
PR-company strategist, pointed out the fact that if someone can afford
such astronomical sums for their advertising, then there’s no doubt
that the individual in question has many problems.
The author stresses that Ulrike Lunacek, in her turn, touched the
topic of “Eurovision” Song Contest in Azerbaijan in 2012 when the
official Baku invited the European Parliament Members, paying for
their journey and stay.
“At that time many people were expelled from their own homes in Baku
during the Contest,” she reminded.
According to the article, Lunacek also raised her concern regarding
the frequent visits the members of various Committees of European
Parliament pay to Azerbaijan, accepting the Azerbaijani authorities’
offers for their countries lobbying. She said she had herself more
that once received that kind of offers by Azerbaijan.
“I have time and again told them that I won’t allow them to press on
me. I am very well aware of the problems in Azerbaijan and hence,
I can openly speak up about the Azerbaijani political prisoners,”
she concluded.