Azerbaijan’s “Caviar Diplomacy” And Corrupted Luca Volonte

• 06.07.2019, 20:26
•  Europe,  Region,  World,  Info

On June 3, the trial of Luca Volonte, the former Chair of the European Commission's Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee, started in Milan Chamber of Justice.

Italian MP Luca Volonte is engaged in the "caviar diplomacy" scandal. He is accused of receiving 2.4 million euros from Azerbaijan. He spent the money to bribe a number of PACE deputies to overthrow the report on Azerbaijan's political prisoners in January 2013.

Luca Volonte is an experienced politician with many connections. He was born in the city of Saronno, in 1966. As a young man he joined the Catholic movement of Communication and Freedom. In 1996, he joined the Italian Parliament as a representative of the Christian-Democratic pro-government party.

In 2011-2013 he was a full representative of Italy in PACE. During those years he also led the EPP faction.

The term "caviar diplomacy" was first used in the 2012 in the European Stability Initiative’s report. It was titled "Caviar Diplomacy: how Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe." In the report the term was used to indicate the precious gifts of Azerbaijani officials to foreign politicians.

According to the sources of the European Stability Initiative, both the Parliamentary Assembly and the Secretariat have a group of people, who receive at least half a kilo of black caviar (the market price is over 1,300 euros) from the Azerbaijani authorities four times a year. Many figures are invited to Baku and during these visits, they get other expensive gifts along with caviar.

Gerald Knaus, a political consultant at the European Stability Institute in Berlin, says every year 50-60 Council of Europe members are invited to Azerbaijan. They are accommodated in deluxe rooms and receive valuable gifts of thousands of euros.

Moreover, according to Arif Mammadov, a former Baku representative in the Council of Europe, there are special small rooms in the Azerbaijani Embassy where gifts, caviar and carpets of different sizes are kept. The value of carpets donated depends on the position of politicians.

 

The case of Italian politician Luca Volonte has become one of the loudest corruption scandals in the history of the European Council.

Luca Volonte is accused of receiving more than 2 million euro bribe from Azerbaijan. The second part of the “Caviar Diplomacy” report, published by the European Stability Initiative research center, notes that Volonte, in 2012, received a bribe of around 2 million euros from the Azerbaijani sources, with transfers to various fund accounts.

He transferred some of the funds to other MPs. Those MPs in the Council of Europe voted against the resolution condemning human rights violations in Azerbaijan in 2013.

In 2013, a report on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, prepared by German MP, member of the Socialist Group, Christoph Strasser, was discussed at the PACE.

Azerbaijani authorities assigned Volonte to win votes in favor of Azerbaijan. Volonte also received the support of former PACE President Pedro Agramunt, to split the socialist group and overthrow the report. The report was finally rejected by 125:79 votes.

 

During the investigation, Volonte confessed that he received 2.4 million dollars from Elkhan Suleymanov, a member of the Azerbaijani delegation. Volonte’s payments were made through four British companies.

In addition to accepting allegations against him, Volonte also agreed to cooperate with the investigation and mentioned the names of a number of European politicians who lobbied for the Azerbaijani authorities.