Baku threatens full exit from Council of Europe after PACE vote
President Ilham Aliyev's threat to withdraw from the continent's top human rights body puts the Council of Europe at risk of losing a member state despite recent high-level diplomatic outreach from Brussels.
Azerbaijan is considering a complete withdrawal from the Council of Europe, President Ilham Aliyev announced on Monday. Speaking at the fourth Shusha Global Media Forum, Aliyev stated that Baku was evaluating "not just the suspension or freezing of our membership." "We are unequivocally considering leaving that structure," he emphasised.
The threat follows a 2024 decision by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to suspend the voting rights of Azerbaijan's delegation. Baku has remained a full member of the 46-member human rights body since 2001.
The organisation oversees the European Court of Human Rights and operates entirely separately from the European Union. Aliyev, who led Azerbaijan’s PACE delegation when his country joined, laid out a strict condition for remaining. "They must restore the voting rights of our delegation. After that, the Azerbaijani delegation will return," he said.
A withdrawal would represent a notable blow to the Council of Europe's institutional reach. It would also highlight a growing divergence in how European institutions engage with Baku. While PACE moved to suspend Azerbaijan's voting rights, Aliyev pointed to significant recent engagement with EU executive leadership.
He specifically noted recent visits to Baku by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset has also attempted to intervene directly.
"The secretary general of the Council of Europe contacted me and asked us not to do this and to find a way to improve the situation," Aliyev said. The president labelled PACE's decision as unjust, arguing that the assembly must "step back and acknowledge their mistakes."
Aliyev also addressed the war in the Middle East during the media forum, which focused on peacebuilding and countering disinformation. "I hope that this current eruption of conflict will not last long," he said. He argued that lasting peace "must be just and fair and based on international law and not based on someone’s ambitions and agenda.”
