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Baku hosts conference â€œThe role of civil society and mass media in the Azerbaijan-EU relationsâ€- PHOTOSESSION

Baku hosts conference â€œThe role of civil society and mass media in the Azerbaijan-EU relationsâ€- <font color=red>PHOTOSESSION </font>

03 December 2010 10:37 (UTC +04:00)

According to APA, Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forumâ€™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. â€œFirst oil boom in Azerbaijan brought European investment and political pluralismâ€, 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 couldnâ€™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.