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EUROPEAN STABILITY INITIATIVE: BAKU'S AUTHORITIES BRIBE PACE BY CAVIAR
arminfo
Friday, May 25, 19:39
The new report of the European Stability Initiative discloses
the cooperation of the Azerbaijani officials with the European
parliamentarians. According to the report, the Azeri officials are
trying to get into European MPs' good graces by presenting them caviar.
The report "Caviar Diplomacy. How Azerbaijan silenced the Council
of Europe" refers to a well-known politician who wished to remain
anonymous: "There are a lot of deputies in the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly whose first greeting, after 'Hello', is 'Where
is the caviar?'"
"One kilogram of caviar is worth between 1,300 and 1,400 euro. Each of
our friends in PACE receives at every session, four times a year, at
least 0.4 to 0.6 kg. Our key friends in PACE, who get this, are around
10 to 12 people. There are another 3 to 4 people in the secretariat."
For some of these friends, the caviar is just the beginning", the
report says.
"Caviar, at least, is given at every session. But during visits to
Baku many other things are given as well. Many deputies are regularly
invited to Azerbaijan and generously paid. In a normal year, at least
30 to 40 would be invited, some of them repeatedly. People are invited
to conferences, events, sometimes for summer vacations. These are
real vacations and there are many expensive gifts. Gifts are mostly
expensive silk carpets, gold and silver items, drinks, caviar and
money. In Baku, a common gift is 2 kg of caviar", says the report.
The report also points out that gift giving is a part of traditional
Azeri culture. The generosity shown towards friends is expected to be
paid back some day. This was certainly the logic behind a policy that
Azerbaijani officials referred to in private as "caviar diplomacy."
It began in 2001, not long after Azerbaijan joined the Council of
Europe. Once the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was completed in
2005 and the Azerbaijani state coffers were awash in oil revenues,
the "caviar policy" shifted into top gear, the report says.
The document stresses: "Over the course of the project, we spoke to a
large number of international officials, Azerbaijanis, members of PACE
and people involved in election observation missions in Azerbaijan. We
studied transcripts of Council of Europe debates on Azerbaijan and
dissected election observation reports by international monitors.
Outside of the Council of Europe, the state of Azerbaijan's democracy
is not seriously contested. Even its biggest admirers admit that it
is at best a semi-authoritarian regime".
"Diplomacy is always about winning friends, building alliances, cutting
deals. In the case of Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe, however, it
often went much further. Beneath the institutional failure, it is also
a story about individuals and the difference they can make, for better
or worse, within institutions like the Council of Europe. Not everybody
who defended Azerbaijan in PACE did so for material benefit. There were
other factors at play, including geopolitical considerations. But there
are many indications that corruption has played a role in deflecting
PACE from its responsibilities", the report says.
arminfo
Friday, May 25, 19:39
The new report of the European Stability Initiative discloses
the cooperation of the Azerbaijani officials with the European
parliamentarians. According to the report, the Azeri officials are
trying to get into European MPs' good graces by presenting them caviar.
The report "Caviar Diplomacy. How Azerbaijan silenced the Council
of Europe" refers to a well-known politician who wished to remain
anonymous: "There are a lot of deputies in the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly whose first greeting, after 'Hello', is 'Where
is the caviar?'"
"One kilogram of caviar is worth between 1,300 and 1,400 euro. Each of
our friends in PACE receives at every session, four times a year, at
least 0.4 to 0.6 kg. Our key friends in PACE, who get this, are around
10 to 12 people. There are another 3 to 4 people in the secretariat."
For some of these friends, the caviar is just the beginning", the
report says.
"Caviar, at least, is given at every session. But during visits to
Baku many other things are given as well. Many deputies are regularly
invited to Azerbaijan and generously paid. In a normal year, at least
30 to 40 would be invited, some of them repeatedly. People are invited
to conferences, events, sometimes for summer vacations. These are
real vacations and there are many expensive gifts. Gifts are mostly
expensive silk carpets, gold and silver items, drinks, caviar and
money. In Baku, a common gift is 2 kg of caviar", says the report.
The report also points out that gift giving is a part of traditional
Azeri culture. The generosity shown towards friends is expected to be
paid back some day. This was certainly the logic behind a policy that
Azerbaijani officials referred to in private as "caviar diplomacy."
It began in 2001, not long after Azerbaijan joined the Council of
Europe. Once the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was completed in
2005 and the Azerbaijani state coffers were awash in oil revenues,
the "caviar policy" shifted into top gear, the report says.
The document stresses: "Over the course of the project, we spoke to a
large number of international officials, Azerbaijanis, members of PACE
and people involved in election observation missions in Azerbaijan. We
studied transcripts of Council of Europe debates on Azerbaijan and
dissected election observation reports by international monitors.
Outside of the Council of Europe, the state of Azerbaijan's democracy
is not seriously contested. Even its biggest admirers admit that it
is at best a semi-authoritarian regime".
"Diplomacy is always about winning friends, building alliances, cutting
deals. In the case of Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe, however, it
often went much further. Beneath the institutional failure, it is also
a story about individuals and the difference they can make, for better
or worse, within institutions like the Council of Europe. Not everybody
who defended Azerbaijan in PACE did so for material benefit. There were
other factors at play, including geopolitical considerations. But there
are many indications that corruption has played a role in deflecting
PACE from its responsibilities", the report says.