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The European Union (EU) is proud to be the largest foreign donor financing the civilian sector in Azerbaijan and by rendering assistance in supporting Azerbaijan and its citizens in the future development of the country, head of the EU representative office in Azerbaijan Malena Mard told the media on March 11.
“In any world country, the civilian sector plays an irreplaceable role in promoting monitoring to reveal the needs of the most vulnerable social groups and ensuring the implementation of commitments in the field of human rights at an international level,” she said.
Mard stressed that the next report on Azerbaijan’s achievements as part of the European Neighbourhood Policy will be published in late March and early April 2014.
The EU annually publishes a report on the achievements of 16 countries as part of the European Neighbourhood Policy.
“Azerbaijan and the EU are interested in intensifying relations,” Mard said.
She expressed the hope that the agreements on visa facilitation and readmission between the EU and Azerbaijan will come into force by late 2014.
As for the negotiations between the EU and Azerbaijan in the common aviation area, Mard stressed that negotiations are not very intense. She added that much depends on Azerbaijani partners in this process.
The EU has allocated more than five million manat for the civilian organisations in the areas of human rights, democracy and regional development in Azerbaijan.
The EU representative office also announced the results of two recent projects in the same area in Azerbaijan. They were announced as making relevant proposals in this area.
The EU allocated three million manat to implement seven projects as part of the ‘Non-governmental organisations in the development’ programme.
Some 2.2 million manat was allocated for eight projects as part of the ‘European Instrument for Promoting Democracy and Human Rights’.
The EU has allocated more than 12 million manat for Azerbaijan to implement more than 60 projects since 2007.
Trend.az
