US, German & French embassies involved in illegal financing of Abzas media

The chargé d'affaires of the United States of America and Germany, as well as the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of France, were separately summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on November 28, 2023, Azernews reports

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it was brought to the attention that the "AbzasMedia" news portal carried out illegal financial transactions with the participation of organizations registered in these countries, as well as the involvement of the embassies of the mentioned countries in this activity, and a serious objection was expressed to this activity.

It was noted that the International Development Agency of the USA, FreedomNow, New Democracy Fund and other organizations illegally transferred financial resources to the territory of Azerbaijan, violating the rules of granting grants, and made illegal contributions to the activities of "AbzasMedia".

According to the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan on grant activities and grant agreements, grant agreements are required to be state-registered in accordance with the relevant procedure, and allocation of funds to unregistered projects is a serious violation of the country's legislation.

At the same time, according to international practice, it was mentioned that according to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Media, the financing of the local media subject by individuals or legal entities of foreign countries, as well as by state institutions of foreign countries, is not allowed.

It was brought to attention that the illegal actions of the embassies of the mentioned countries and their organizations in the territory of Azerbaijan are a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The Azerbaijani side strongly condemned this activity, which is against the legislation of Azerbaijan and aims to interfere in the internal affairs of the country, and it was brought to the attention that it reserves the right to take appropriate measures in accordance with the national legislation regarding the mentioned facts.