Dictator Roussopoulos buries the PACE A relic of the old world against Azerbaijan

"The Council of Europe makes and continues to make decisions in its Assembly in accordance with the rule of law, human rights, and democratic procedures." What a beautiful and promising phrase from April 11, 2025. And it belongs to the President of the PACE, Theodoros Roussopoulos, who resigned in 2008 as Greece's Minister of State and official government spokesperson following a scandal involving real estate. According to various sources, Roussopoulos was a "close ally of Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis," and the media accused the minister of being involved in opaque deals between the state and the Great Monastery of Vatopedi, which led to the government (the state) losing millions of euros.

And here this disgraced figure uses such important terms as "rule of law," "democratic procedures," and "human rights" in his statements. Yet, he absolutely does not react to glaring facts, such as the recent accusation of former Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, on charges of corruption, bribery, money laundering, and lobbying for foreign states. Perhaps because she is also Greek, like Roussopoulos, and they have financial ties?

Let us also remind that this is the very same Roussopoulos, who, just two days after his election in 2024 as head of the PACE on an uncontested basis (where is the manifestation of the praised European liberal democracy?), saw the birth of a resolution in which the PACE decided not to validate the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation. The members of this delegation, in protest, suspended their participation in the PACE, while the MPs who supported the document were declared persona non grata in Azerbaijan. This disgraceful resolution came into being after Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and full sovereignty, based on adherence to all norms and principles of international law. It is precisely this aspect that was acknowledged by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, during the international forum on "Facing the New World Order" held at ADA University on April 9. The President noted that Strasbourg is trying to present the situation as a human rights issue.

"The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to punish Azerbaijan for the restoration of our sovereignty. In September 2023, the separatists were totally eradicated in Karabakh. In January 2024, they decided to deprive our delegation of its voting rights just because of that. Yes, they want to pack it into a kind of human rights issue, but it's not true," noted President Aliyev.

And just a day later, Roussopoulos once again sang one of his favorite tunes about how the PACE "constantly asked for permission to allow our observers to monitor the elections in Azerbaijan." In other words, Ilham Aliyev, in "perfect English" (as acknowledged by Roussopoulos), had already exposed the deceitful nature of the PACE leaders in advance.

By the way, this raises the question: Is Roussopoulos familiar with PACE Resolution 1416 from 2005, which stated that "considerable parts of the territory of Azerbaijan are still occupied by Armenian forces, and separatist forces are still in control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region."? Moreover, following this statement, the resolution emphasized the following: "The Assembly reiterates that the occupation of foreign territory by a member state constitutes a grave violation of that state’s obligations as a member of the Council of Europe and reaffirms the right of displaced persons from the area of conflict to return to their homes safely and with dignity." At the same time, PACE, referencing the well-known four UN Security Council resolutions from 1993, "urged", among other things, for the withdrawal of armed forces from all occupied territories, including the cessation of the supply of any weapons or military equipment that could lead to an escalation of the conflict or the continuation of the occupation of the territory.

Most likely, Roussopoulos has not read the text of this resolution in Greek, French, or proper English. Otherwise, he would have interrupted the speech delivered five days ago in the PACE halls by Armenia's former Deputy Prime Minister, Armen Gevorkyan, who called the Baku trial of those accused of war crimes "shameful." However, how could he have interrupted the speech of an Armenian representative when, according to the former head of Armenia’s delegation to PACE, Davit Harutyunyan (summer 2024), the reason for the "lenient assessments of the actions of [the current] Armenian authorities" lies in corrupt elements ("the apogee of hypocrisy")? Moreover, Roussopoulos himself has openly spoken out against the Azerbaijani side for "its attacks on Nagorno-Karabakh." Nothing more, nothing less.

But for the President of the PACE, it is far more important to continue biased attacks on the just position of official Baku regarding key political issues. This was once again confirmed by his reaction to the statement made by the president at ADA University two days ago, where he said, "we did not participate in the election of judges for the European Court of Human Rights, all the decisions of the European Court, for us, are invalid." As the head of state conveyed his message to all interested parties, "This is a position we elaborated, and I just take this opportunity to announce that none of the decisions of the European Court are valid for us because we were deprived of our voting rights. We did not vote for these judges. We don't know who these judges are."

So, how did Roussopoulos react to Ilham Aliyev's well-defined position? In an entirely boorish manner, signing his own confession of ill-manners. "We are not afraid of anything, not afraid of Aliyev or anyone else who behaves like a dictator," he stated. And most likely, he immediately felt like some kind of hero. Not a brutal one, of course, but a virtual one. Naturally, he received a prompt response from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the formulation that "labeling our nation's leader a ‘dictator’ and insulting him is utterly unacceptable, is a demonstration of political ignorance and is a dumbness. The current hysterical situation in the Assembly and the dictator Roussopoulos at its leadership are a manifestation of the deplorable situation in PACE. The same situation exists in the European Parliament."

Undoubtedly, Roussopoulos will be feeling uneasy for a long time following the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s public announcement of his inclusion on the blacklist, along with 76 PACE members who supported the "the unfair and legally questionable initiative to suspend the credentials of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE. If Roussopoulos penetrates into Azerbaijan, he will be rejected."

At the same time, as the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry rightly emphasises, over the years PACE has earned the justified resentment of the Azerbaijani people due to its anti-Azerbaijani policy based on double standards. A striking example of this was the scandalous incident in 2023, when the PACE rapporteur on monitoring Azerbaijan, Norwegian MP Lise Christoffersen, flatly refused to accept an invitation to meet with Azerbaijani refugees expelled from Armenia, refusing to listen to the problems they raised.

Let us agree that even the aforementioned points are more than sufficient to recognise the futility of a biased PACE. Unsurprisingly, many experts are now openly stating that the time of this institution has come to an end. Especially now, in an era marked by the rising influence of the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump, who has declared war on the "deep state", the Council of Europe is increasingly seen as an integral part of that very offshoot — with its meaningless neoliberal gestures serving only to mask the inaction and lack of initiative of the organisation amid the formation of a new world order. This, once again, highlights the artificial nature of this outdated body's continued existence.

In this light, it is fitting to conclude with the words of President Ilham Aliyev, who stated that “the Council of Europe shot itself in the foot.” In attempting to “discriminate against Azerbaijan, to isolate us, but actually, they isolated themselves from the Caucasus.” This same isolation of the Council of Europe is also becoming evident in relation to other regions of the world.

It is high time to acknowledge the atavistic nature of this institution.