Jagland admits inaction of Council of Europe in solving Azerbaijani refugees' issue

The Council of Europe has no mechanisms and means to solve the Azerbaijani refugees’ problem, which is very acute, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland said, AzerNews reported citing Trend.

Jagland was answering a question of Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament’s Committee for Culture Rafael Huseynov during the PACE winter session in Strasbourg, France.

Huseynov told Jagland that he didn’t take any practical steps to resolve the problem of more than one million Azerbaijani refugees while being a secretary general.

Huseynov added that instead of using general words and shifting the responsibility to the OSCE, Jagland could take specific steps taking advantage of his high position. Huseynov asked whether Jagland felt responsible for not taking those actions.

Jagland answered that he doesn’t have any means to solve this problem. He said if he applied to the OSCE or the UN, to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees they would say the same.

Jagland said he doesn’t have such a mandate, adding that he has another mandate and is trying to implement it.

Jagland said he doesn’t see any possibility for the Council of Europe to solve the refugee problem mentioned by Huseynov.

Of course, this is a terrible situation for those who found themselves in it, Jagland added.