Eritrea

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki 2017 - on so-called "new" policy by Ethiopia towards Eritrea

For those who don't understand the language, here's a link to the question asked and excerpts to what the President is saying. http://www.shabait.com/categoryblog/24079-water-is-at-the-core-of-sustainable-development-and-is-critical-for-socio-economic-development-in-our-country-president-isaias-part-ii QUESTION - Ethiopian authorities have been making repeated pronouncements in the past few months about a new “draft policy” on Eritrea which they will “soon submit to the Parliament and the Council of Ministers. The regime states that this will replace the “failed peace, military and other instruments that it has pursued in the past”. What is the underlying rationale of this announcement? What is its principal objective? Eritrean PRESIDENT - When I look into the whole situation in retrospect, the damage inflicted on Eritrea by the TPLF regime and its allies can never be compensated in any way. The loss incurred in our region for over 20 years now by instigating hostility between the Ethiopian and Eritrean people cannot indeed be underrated. Why and to achieve what objectives did they resort to this policy? A detailed exposition is perhaps unnecessary for this forum. But briefly, the damage they have inculcated in the last 25 years and especially so from 1994-95 onwards, by inducing fragmentation and vertical polarization of the Ethiopian people under the rubric of establishing a “democratic and federalist Ethiopia” is enormous indeed. A toxic political subterfuge or subversion of this scale is unprecedented in Ethiopian history. To expose the people of Ethiopia to jeopardy of this dimension by fomenting ethnic cleavages is not a simple matter. The dangerous ramifications that have unfolded in the region cannot be ignored either. The TPLF regime’s invasion of Somalia, apparently to advance other external agendas; the destruction and turmoil that ensued thereafter are other dimensions that must be seen in this context. The latter was packaged as a surgical operation that would last a couple of weeks only. All the external interventions in Somalia have not weakened or uprooted Al- Shebaab from the country but only exacerbated interminable mayhem.1 The border dispute the TPL provoked with Eritrea falls in the same pattern. This has long been resolved legally. But the regime persists in its reckless acts by flouting international law to “paralyze” Eritrea. They have fomented new animosity by jettisoning the solidarity between the peoples of Eritrean and Ethiopia that was built in a common struggle. One can also mention the unwarranted sanctions imposed on Eritrea as a continuation of this destructive policy. The intervention conducted until recently in South Sudan is part and parcel of this jigsaw. In brief, the misguided policies they have pursued and the subsequent ensued in the region are profound developments that warrant proper accountability. To revert to your question, what will TPLF officials submit to the Parliament? Who are the intended targets of this message? The new (US) Administration in Washington? Certain supporters of the regime in Europe? To the Somali, Ethiopian, South Sudanese or Eritrean peoples? And what does it mean in substantive terms? What is the new policy drafted? Has their Parliament jurisdiction over other peoples? I doubt whether they know what they are talking about. They have and continue to use Eritrea as a scapegoat in order to deflect attention from the domestic opposition that they are facing. They accuse Eritrea for “acts of destabilization” and these days for “collaborating with Egypt and other forces to that end”. We need to understand their mindset and their actual condition. These baseless allegations emanate from and reflect their frustration. The misguided strategic policies that the TPLF regime and its supporters pursued in the past 20-25 years have yielded dangerous regional instability only. In the circumstances, our task must be to look forward, to draw appropriate lessons from this negative experience. To dwell on their hollow pronouncements will be a waste of time. Our message to all those who wish to weaken or paralyze us is that this will never happen; that we will never be derailed by these campaigns”. For a couple of months now there's been reports of the Ethiopian government bringing forth its finalized draft "new" policy towards Eritrea, to be tabled before the Council of Ministers. Eritrean President gives his take on this, after being asked in an interview held two weeks ago with ERI-TV.