Interview with Magdalena Grono

Grono on situation in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia

JAMnews publishes an exclusive interview with Magdalena Grono, the new EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia. She assumed the position on November 1, 2024.

Short bio: Prior to the appointment, Magdalena Grono served as Chief Diplomatic Adviser to President of the European Council Charles Michel.

She has been working on foreign policy and conflict resolution issues for the past 25 years, including in high-level diplomatic posts for the EU as well as in think tank capacities, with a strong emphasis on the former Soviet space and the South Caucasus in particular.

Before joining President Michel’s Cabinet, she worked as foreign policy adviser to President Tusk of the European Council. Before working for the European Council, she was the Europe and Central Asia Director at International Crisis Group and also previously worked with the European Commission where she advised former Commissioner for Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy on Eastern partnership countries.

● Ms. Grono, congratulations on your appointment and the assumption of your new role. To begin, could you outline your priorities as the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia?

Thank you! My priorities are outlined in the mandate given by the Member States to the EUSR. These are, in the first instance:

• To contribute to a peaceful settlement of conflicts in the region, including the crisis in Georgia and the normalisation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan;

• And to support stability and cooperation in the region more broadly, encouraging and facilitating cross-border and trans-boundary cooperation where feasible.

To this end, I will continue to engage with the main interested actors to encourage and to support further cooperation between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and, as appropriate, their neighbouring countries. This is a broad outline.

More concretely, I intend to build on my own and my predecessors’ significant experience in the framework of both the Geneva International Discussions and EU efforts to address conflicts in Georgia as well as to contribute to the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process.

● You recently co-chaired the 62nd round of the Geneva International Discussions. Having participated in this format before, how do you assess the process, and how is it influenced by the regional context?

Indeed, we – together with my fellow Co-Chairs from the UN and OSCE – just completed the 62^nd round in Geneva on November 5-6, 2024.

As you rightly said, I previously worked as co-moderator of Working Group II dealing with humanitarian issues. This time, I’ve returned as EU Co-Chair and co-chaired the discussions in Working Group I dealing with security issues.

I’m glad all participants express their continued commitment to this format, even in the context of the highly challenging regional environment, the wars and the crises this region has been facing over the past several years.

I was pleased to see and contribute to these exchanges in Geneva between Georgian, Abkhaz, South Ossetian, Russian and American participants.

I believe much more could be done to address the needs of conflict-affected populations, to encourage dialogue across the divide and promote reconciliation. Indeed, as you said, the overall regional environment is particularly challenging.

For instance, the “second front” narrative – which is clearly false, and I reaffirmed it once again while meeting with GID participants in Geneva – has had a negative impact on the clarity and tonality of their exchanges.

As the EU, we have been very clear about this. But it should not distract the participants and make them postpone some of the very important discussions they need to have to address the consequences of conflict.

● On Armenia and Azerbaijan. Where does the “Brussels process” stand? How do you assess the current stage of normalization?

As the EU, we have been very pleased to note the various positive trends and decisions made on the bilateral track by both Yerevan and Baku over the past year.

These include steps taken in December 2023 on the release of prisoners, an agreement on COP29, and progress in the delimitation and demarcation process, which ultimately led to the first-ever practical delimitation and demarcation of a section of the bilateral border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in April-May 2024.

In addition to this, we saw the entry into force of the Regulation on the Joint Activities of both countries’ respective border commissions on 1 November 2024.

I’m also reassured by the current stability on the ground. Despite sporadic accusations of ceasefire violations over recent months, the overall situation along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border has remained relatively calm.

When it comes to the “Brussels process”, I would say that – for me personally – it was an honor to be closely involved in the process led by President of the European Council Charles Michel in our offices in Brussels.

I believe these meetings – 6 in total between December 2021 and July 2023 – were most useful in creating the space needed for the leaders to address their concerns to the other side, to listen to each other, and to seek solutions together.

In addition to other facilitation efforts from 2020-2023, it created a structure and the basis for them to build on, also bilaterally without external facilitators.

It allowed for the launching of confidence-building measures, such as border delimitation/demarcation, the mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty, connectivity and the resumption of communication links, work on their future peace treaty, and a variety of humanitarian deliverables.

Yes, over the past few years there were regrettably also a number of tragic moments and repeated violence. As the EU, we hope the two sides will now intensify their efforts to systematically address the consequences of conflict, in order to turn the page of enmity once and for all.

After decades of conflict-related suffering the societies experienced, we hope the leaderships of these two countries will demonstrate the strong political will needed to make peace lasting and irreversible, for all populations concerned.

When I meet them, I intend to convey the EU’s appreciation for those courageous and forward-looking decisions they have taken to date. I will also strongly encourage them to build on their previous progress, to continue to look for mutually acceptable solutions for all, and to refrain from any use of force in the settlement of disputes.

I would also like to take this opportunity to emphasize the contribution of the EU’s civilian monitoring Mission in Armenia, which follows developments on the Armenian side of the bilateral border with Azerbaijan.

The EU has been very clear here in dispelling the disinformation targeting its activities. Rather than creating “new dividing lines”, as claimed by some actors, our objective is to contribute to regional stability and to strengthen the overall peace process.

● When will you start your official consultations in the region?

I’m planning to start my first visits to the region in my new capacity in the upcoming weeks.

Interview with Magdalena Grono