Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubeyli – APA. “One of my goals in putting forward my candidacy to the post of Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) is a continuation of political reforms initiated by me. I want the CoE to build a strong relationship with all countries of the continent. Moreover, there is a need to carry out reforms within PACE. The solution of a problem at the PACE Monitoring Committee is very important. I believe that monitoring should be continued and it is one of the important missions of PACE. In fact, I would say that this structure is the most important mission of PACE. To my mind, monitoring should be conducted in a different form. Today, a crack appeared between the countries subject to PACE monitoring procedure and post-monitoring countries. The consequences arising from this problem is needed to be eliminated. During these two years, I felt how serious this problem is. Despite our differences, we all are alike and the monitoring procedure should correspond to the position of all member countries. At the same time, we need to reconsider the problems faced by the European Court of Human Rights. We must try so that the Council of Europe can effectively express its position. After my two-year experience at PACE, I think I can undertake responsibility for this post. I consider that the Council of Europe needs a strong political figure meeting the abovementioned criteria,” said former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), French MP, Jean-Claude Mignon in his interview with APA.
Asked what role the Council of Europe can play in the resolution of the “frozen conflicts” in the territories of the member states, including the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh, Mignon said:
“As you know, former PACE presidents established a subcommittee on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. I didn’t want to admit it. Why did I stand against the activity of this committee? Though I didn’t agree with my predecessor Movlud Cavusoglu in this issue, I respected his initiative. I just think that there is no need to repeat the activity of other structures. I have always said that we should establish efficient cooperation with international and regional organizations. OSCE is a very important organization and is one of our main partners. OSCE has established the Minsk Group dealing with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In my opinion, it is better to work and cooperate with the OSCE Minsk Group than to make extra efforts that can complicate the situation. I’m fully confident that the six-point Madrid Principles of the OSCE Minsk Group are acceptable for both sides. I would like to mention with pleasure that during my official visit to Azerbaijan, I met with President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. The Foreign Minister told me that Azerbaijan is fully willing to accept the six-point Madrid Principles and it made me happy. I consider that the upcoming events in 2014 are very important. First of all, Azerbaijan will chair the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. There are favorable opportunities to revive these principles.”
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