An Open Letter to Magdalena Grono, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus
By Karen Harutyunyan, Editor-in-Chief of CivilNet
Dear Ms. Grono,
I believe we met once or twice during your visits to Yerevan. You are unlikely to remember me, but I remember you as a decent person.
I write to you as a historian and a journalist, but also as a member of a society in which tens of thousands of people remain homeless following their forced displacement from Nagorno-Karabakh.
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I have no illusion that values always come first in international politics. But diplomacy is more than a calculation of interests. It is also a choice about what not to take part in, which words not to repeat, and when not to become an instrument in someone else’s political staging.
Your participation in Azerbaijan’s organized visit was such a choice. You and other diplomats visited a region whose Armenian population was forced to leave its homes, schools, churches, cemeteries and memories three years ago. The itinerary was set by the state that seized control of the territory and is now reshaping not only its cities, but also their historical memory.
I do not address this letter to every diplomat who joined that tour. I address it to you because the European Union is not just another geopolitical actor. It was built on a commitment to human dignity, democracy and the rule of law.
I understand that the European Union has strategic interests in Azerbaijan, including energy security. But that is precisely why Europe’s representatives are expected to draw a clear line between necessary engagement and morally unacceptable normalization.
Trust in the European Union has grown in Armenia in recent years. Armenians value Europe’s support. Yet visits such as this endanger not only Europe’s standing, but also the trust on which lasting peace must be built.
Most troubling was your post on X, referring to Armenia and Azerbaijan’s “deeply diverging views and narratives” on the history of Gandzasar and Dadivank.
Ms. Grono,
This is not a matter of competing views. It is a matter of the difference between scholarly research and state-sponsored historical falsehood. If you are genuinely interested in the history of Caucasian Albania, you can turn not to Armenian or Azerbaijani authors, but to the work of internationally recognized scholars.
Reconciliation cannot begin by treating a documented historical heritage and its political denial as equally valid positions.
Europe understands this from its own history. In the case of Srebrenica, the European Union does not speak of competing narratives. It rejects genocide denial, its relativization and the glorification of war criminals. European representatives attend commemorations for the victims and insist that peace cannot be built without truth and justice.
Why should a different standard apply to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh?
But the issue goes beyond history. You walked through places whose inhabitants are no longer there. Three years ago, at this very time, many Karabakh Armenians were forced to exhume the fresh remains of their sons from cemeteries and bring them to Armenia. Many still lack a home, work, or confidence in the future.
Nineteen Armenian hostages also remain in Baku’s prisons. Their only “crime” is being Armenian and having fought for their people’s right to self-determination.
Visiting sites that symbolize military victory, remaining silent about the consequences of displacement, and failing to take a public stand against attempts to reassign Armenian cultural heritage do not advance peace. On the contrary, they deepen the sense of injustice and humiliation.
I am not arguing that the European Union should not engage with Azerbaijan or work for peace. But such engagement must rest on clear moral standards.
Reconciliation cannot be built on the assumption that displaced people should forget their homes, or that their churches should be given a new identity. It must rest on truth, the dignity of victims, and accountability.
Armenia is weak today and cannot fully guarantee its own security. But the continued humiliation of the Armenian people and the disregard for their pain cannot bring peace. They only deepen injustice and further erode the foundations of any possible reconciliation.
I remain convinced that Europe can and must choose the right path.
