Majority of European leaders ignore Baku-hosted European Games

PanARMENIAN.Net - The opening ceremony of the Baku-hosted European Games will be attended world leaders such as presidents of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Montenegro, Serbia, Belarus, Russia and Turkey. Also to attend the ceremony are the head of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Prince of Monaco.

The UK will be represented by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the head of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament will be representing the Czech Republic.

Thus, the majority of leaders of the Western Europe ignored the Azeri-hosted event, according to Contact.az.

Meanwhile, the Assistant to the President on social and political issues Ali Hasanov once again stated at the news conference that Azerbaijan has no political prisoners.

Answering the question of the TV channel Al Jazeera, "When will the political prisoners be released?" Hasanov said: "We believe that Azerbaijan has no political prisoners. There are convicted of certain acts. There are court decisions against them, and no executive branch may question the decisions of the courts, " said Hasanov. According to him, the courts in Azerbaijan are independent and act according to the norms of law.

"In Azerbaijan, there are conditions for free political activity, 55 political parties can hold meetings, demonstrations, protests, participate in elections. A campaign on political prisoners in Azerbaijan launched by some circles is groundless," Hasanov said.

In reply to the question why the country did not allow the arrival of the delegation of Amnesty International, Hasanov noted that the organization "has not passed the accreditation."

Regarding participation of Armenian athletes in the European Games, Hasanov expressed hope that sports will contribute to the rapprochement of the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples.

In turn, the Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov said that the budget of European Games totaled 960 million Euro. In fact, a little over one billion manat were spent. In view of 34% devaluation of the manat, there was "even some sum saved," said Rahimov.

Rahimov looked mortified when asked a question about corruption, noting that they are ready to retire if the audit identifies theft of at least $1."