PACE President Anne Brasseur today reaffirmed a May decision taken by the organization’s Bureau not to hold anymore committee meetings in Azerbaijan for two years as of June 1, 2014

The PACE Bureau and Standing Committee adopted the decision to effectively blacklist Baku following the Azerbaijani authorities' last-minute decision to withdraw a visa already granted to a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), René Rouquet (France, SOC).

In her address to the PACE plenary session today in Strasbourg, Brasseur noted that if the authorities in Azerbaijan do not ensure freedom of mobility to PACE representatives sent to Baku on official business, PACE will not hold its sessions in Baku.

This decision will not apply in the case of missions to observe elections.