This was found in the investigation of the Swedish and German investigative journalism platform “Blankspot” about how the regime of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev seeks support among the officials of the European Union (EU) institutions.
In June, while in Azerbaijan, Ameriks said in an interview to Azerbaijan state television that he came to Azerbaijan on an official visit as the vice-chairman of the EP Transport and Tourism, and that as a member of the EP he has good opportunities to improve EU-Azerbaijan relations.
When “Blankspot” asked officials of the EP Transport and Tourism Committee about the trip to America, it turned out that the committee was not aware of it. However, representatives of the committee refused to comment on whether America committed a violation.
“Blankspot” asked America who financed his trip, who he represented in Azerbaijan and who developed the agenda of the visit. America replied that the visit took place at the invitation of the Parliament of Azerbaijan and the ambassador of this country in Brussels, the agenda was jointly planned by the Azerbaijani side and the American office, but the visit was financed by the EP, except for the visit to Nagorno-Karabakh, which was paid for by the Parliament of Azerbaijan.
Ameriks also stated that he went on the visit as the chairman of the Group of Friends of Azerbaijan of the European Parliament, thereby departing from his previous statements that he came to Azerbaijan as the vice-chairman of the EP Transport and Tourism Committee.
Soon after the election to the EP in May 2019, America European Parliament established an informal group of friends of Azerbaijan.
Journalists also draw attention to the fact that America has never mentioned Azerbaijan in EP debates. However, in March 2022, he was one of only two MPs to vote against an EP resolution stating that Azerbaijan promotes “a systematic state-level policy of Armenophobia, historical revisionism and hatred against Armenians, (..) including dehumanization, glorification of violence”. and that it “threatens peace in the South Caucasus”.
The resolution was adopted with 635 votes in favor, two against and 42 abstentions. Ameriks was the only member of the group of European Social Democrats (S&D) who voted against. The second one who voted against was the far-right MP from the Netherlands, Marcel de Graaf.
“Blankspot” also asked America whether Azerbaijan can be compared to Belarus and Russia in terms of human rights violations, because Azerbaijan also receives a low human rights rating from non-governmental organizations such as “Freedom House” and “Human Rights Watch”.
However, America has not answered about human rights, but stated that Azerbaijan is not like Russia or Belarus, because Russia kills Ukrainian civilians, but Azerbaijan sends humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Ameriks is one of the four deputies of the EP Committee on Transport and Tourism, Karima Delli.
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