The letter asks EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Stefan Fule to put pressure on the Azeri authorities and support and protect civil society that faces an escalating suppression. Last week more than 20 NGOs were confronted with sanctions that included freezing bank accounts and seizing personal accounts of NGO executives and others. This is a continuation of the government’s on-going harassment campaign against human rights defenders that uses tactics like police summons, arrests, propaganda, and slandering and threating organisations with closure.

This briefing outlines the environmental legislation related to investments that have been designated as Projects of Common Interest (PCIs). Through this briefing we explain for a range of stakeholders – namely civil society organizations (CSOs), local municipalities and national authorities – what are the PCIs and why these audiences should ensure that these projects do not cause undue environmental damage.

While it may seem to be an environmental project at a quick glance, there are a number of facts that question the justification of the Turceni unit 6 rehabilitation project. The Turceni unit 6 project isn’t just a rehabilitation of the power plant unit, it is part of a county-wide operation with ignored social and environmental impacts. The immediate question is whether this is it really a pollution reduction project.