Azerbaijani civil activists urge authorities to accelerate European integration

At the roundtable on the topic of "Azerbaijan is at crossroads: Eastern Partnership or Customs Union?", civil society activists urged the government to accelerate the process of the country's European integration. According to the participants of the meeting, there is no alternative to the European integration and the accession to the Customs Union hides a threat of loss of independence of the country, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The roundtable was held in Baku on November 6 at the "Park Inn" Hotel. The event was organized by the Azerbaijan National Platform of the Civil Society Forum of the EU Programme "Eastern Partnership", which includes 51 NGOs of the country.

Gudrat Gasanguliev, an Azerbaijani MP, the leader of the "People's United Front" Party, believes that "Azerbaijan can join the Customs Union and the Eurasian Union, if Russia solves the Karabakh problem correctly."

A number of experts have pointed to the weakness of Azerbaijan in issues of freedom of trade from its neighbours and partners in the CIS, and they have also stated that the country needs to get rid of the illusion of the importance of its role in energy supply in Europe.

According to Togrul Djuvarly, a member of the Azerbaijan National Public Committee for European Integration (ANPCEI), Azerbaijan seeks for "special relationship" with the EU to avoid the additional commitments for the development of democracy.