Baku parliament votes to end cooperation with European Parliament

Baku parliament votes to end cooperation with European Parliament
Members of the Milli Majlis during a plenary session. Baku, Azerbaijan, 1 May, 2026.
Azertag

Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis voted on Friday (1 May) to suspend cooperation with the European Parliament across all areas, escalating tensions after lawmakers in Baku accused the chamber of sustained bias.

The decision was announced during Friday’s plenary session after a special parliamentary commission was established to prepare a formal response to what officials described as the European Parliament’s “hostile activities” towards Azerbaijan.

Under the adopted decision, the Milli Majlis will also begin procedures to terminate its membership in the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova told lawmakers that relations with the European Parliament had previously been suspended over what she described as biased documents, before being restored in September 2016.

“Unfortunately, the past 10 years have shown that the European Parliament has no intention of abandoning its biased activity against Azerbaijan,” she said.

She added that Azerbaijan’s restoration of its territorial integrity had only intensified criticism from the chamber.

Former deputy speaker Ziyafat Askerov was appointed head of the commission that drafted the decision.

Cause for response

The move comes days after claims by Minval Politika that former Luis Moreno Ocampo discussed efforts to influence European policy towards Azerbaijan through political contacts and pressure campaigns.

The establishment of the commission also follows a resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 30 April concerning Azerbaijan, adding to a series of recent disputes between Baku and Brussels over human rights, regional politics, and the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process.

The suspension of ties marks one of the sharpest institutional ruptures between Azerbaijan’s parliament and the European Parliament in recent years.

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