European summits in Yerevan mark a unique opportunity to seek release of detainees in Baku

By Hrair Balian

Two unprecedented European summits will take place in Yerevan next week, bringing together around 40 heads of state and government for the European Political Community meeting on May 4 and the first EU-Armenia summit on May 5, followed by a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron. The meetings present a key opportunity to seek the release of Armenian detainees held in Baku.

European leaders arriving in Yerevan must hear one unambiguous message from the Armenian people: there can be no genuine peace between Armenians and Azerbaijanis while 19 Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Armenian hostages remain in Baku prisons. European leaders must press Azerbaijan to release them immediately and unconditionally.

Europe has deepened its energy partnership with Azerbaijan since 2022 as part of its effort to reduce dependence on Russian gas. This gives European leaders real – not rhetorical – leverage over Baku, leverage they have so far chosen not to use. It is high time to act.

The two important high-level EU meetings to be held in Yerevan on May 4-5 are significant milestones for independent Armenia. The proximity of the meetings to the June 7 parliamentary elections in Armenia raises questions about ulterior, electoral motives.

Regardless, May 4, declared a non-working day in Armenia to accommodate the events, should become a non-partisan Day of Solidarity with the 19 hostages. Armenians, regardless of political affiliation, should unite in demanding that European leaders take resolute action to secure the hostages’ release and return forthwith.

On May 4, a peaceful and dignified Drum Vigil should fill Yerevan squares and streets. Participants should carry personal banners focused on the hostages’ release. The protesters should bring pots and pans to beat as drums, so that their demands echo throughout the city and reach European delegations in their hotels. The vigil could run through the evening, with marchers moving between city squares and streets. No coordination is needed: civic and political organization could urge their members to join, and those unable or prevented from joining can beat their drums from apartment windows throughout the city. The proposed Drum Vigil could join other protests that no doubt will be held in Yerevan the same day.

The practice of banging pots and pans as a form of protest is most famously associated with social movements, including in Chile (1980s) as a safer way to protest the Pinochet dictatorship, Argentina (2001, 2012), Iceland (2008–2009), Canada (2012), Myanmar (2021) where residents banged pots and pans nightly at 8:00 p.m. to protest the military coup, and France (2023) to protest pension reform, to name a few

A non-partisan May 4 Drum Vigil is the least we can do in solidarity with those imprisoned in Baku. Inaction is inexcusable. Azerbaijan’s continuing detention of the 19 hostages is designed to inflict maximum public humiliation, which serves both domestic political purposes and psychological warfare against Armenia. The hostages’ sham trials during the past year were and continue to be accompanied by state-sponsored media, which reinforces anti-Armenian sentiment and frames the captives as criminals, humiliating their families and all Armenians writ large. The abrupt removal of international monitoring (such as the ICRC) is used to create "agonizing uncertainty" for families, acting as a form of psychological torture.

International human rights organizations have characterized the continuing detention of these hostages as “bargaining chips” for Azerbaijan to extract further political and territorial concessions from Armenia during ongoing peace negotiations. 

European leaders must hear the plight of these hostages. Among confirmed participants in the summits are EU Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer, Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, and others. President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is reported to have accepted the invitation. President Ilham Aliyev is invited.

. . .

Hrair Balian is a conflict resolution and peacebuilding specialist with decades of experience working on mediation and dialogue processes in conflict zones. He is the author of Anatomy of Peacemaking: Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict and Missed Opportunities (2026).