Eritrea – US Relations Holds the Key to Eritrea – Ethiopia Normalisation

Y-PFDJ representative Mekonnen G-mariam with former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Herman Cohen

Eritrea – US Relations Holds the Key to Eritrea – Ethiopia Normalisation 

By Kidane Eyob,

The Eritrean government, on several occasions, tried to engage with both the Bush Administration and that of Obama’s with a view to improving their relations. However, the good intentions of the Eritrean government were not reciprocated and in fact, it is commonly known that the US government has openly promoted hostile strategy against Eritrea. On the other hand, Eritrea’s effort to improve relations with neighbouring countries as well as with others in the Middle East, Far East and the West has over the years shown a significant development.

US-Eritrean relations deteriorated primarily because Washington failed to uphold its legal and moral obligation as a guarantor of the June 2000 Algiers Agreement. If the US government is serious about improving relations with Eritrea, the Obama Administration should have the humility to engage with the Eritrean government as they have done so with Iran to iron out their differences and agree to disagree in some of their policies and principles of governance.

Eritrea asks for no favours or hand-outs but for the US government to uphold the rule of law and allow the normalisation of relations between the two sisterly countries. The regime in Ethiopia has more to gain by normalising relations with Eritrea but this cannot be achieved while Ethiopia occupies sovereign Eritrean territory and rejects the Final and Binding Verdict of the EEBC.

The publication and timing of the three consecutive articles by retired State Department officials, titled “Time to Bring Eritrea in from the Cold” is a welcome development and the current policy makers at the State Department should heed their advice and change their hostile strategy so as to bring about stability to the entire region. It is in the US’s interest to give peace a chance and allow the people in the region to live in peace.

Eritrea is a civilised and a peaceful country in a volatile region, however, the US had threatened to add Eritrea to their list of “state sponsors of terrorism” for no justifiable reason. Furthermore, the US persistently tried to substitute the final and binding verdict of the EEBC with “dialogue”, and on Christmas Eve of 2009, the US designed a politically motivated, unfair and unjust sanctions to punish Eritrea by strangulating its economy.

Eritrea, while “out in the cold” in the 1950s tried to plead and peacefully protest with the UN, UK and US to be given its basic human right to self-determination but was ignored. When the Ethiopian Monarch violated a UN sponsored federation, they turned a blind eye. In 1961, the Eritrea people were forced to start a fight for their right to self-determination. This fight then became a long and protracted war that dragged on for 30 years and cost over 80,000 Eritrea lives of young men and women and many fold of Ethiopian lives.

It is no surprise there .. What the Ethiopian Government could not state it officially, their surrogates are on record laying the ground work for another invasion.

There is a long trail of historic injustices committed against the people of Eritrea. It all started when Eritrea was deliberately left “out in the cold” in the 1950s by the US government when The Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, made the following unforgettable remarks in December 1952 at the time when Eritrea was forced into an arranged underage marriage with Ethiopia:-

'’From the point of view of justice, the opinions of the Eritrean people must receive consideration. Nevertheless the strategic interests of the United States in the Red Sea basin and considerations of security and world peace make it necessary that the country has to be linked with our ally, Ethiopia ''

Eritreans do not begrudge and would only be happy to let bygones be bygones. With all the unwarranted hostility, Eritrea, with the support and in partnership with other countries round the globe as well as investment from multinational companies, aspires to be self-reliant and economically independent while making poverty history in Eritrea. The Eritrean government and people in accordance with their faiths and civilised African culture wish to live in peace and harmony with their neighbours and others in the international community and if the US wishes to engage with Eritrea in order to improve relations, Eritrea welcomes US with an open mind. Once genuine Eritrea-US relations are back on track, Ethiopia will subsequently withdraw from sovereign Eritrean territory that it occupies and the process of normalisation of relations and trust between the two sisterly countries will gradually develop into a solid and mutual relationship because their common grounds significantly overweigh their differences.

Eritrea’s fundamental golden principles of self-reliance and economic and political independence as well as the promotion of social justice is deeply rooted in the people’s civilised African culture, faiths and 30 years of armed struggle for independence and the Eritrean government will not allow for this paramount principle to be corrupted or compromised because to do so is a betrayal to the over 100.000 Eritrean men and women who paid the ultimate price in achieving independence and safeguarding Eritrea’s sovereignty. The US government has persistently failed to comprehend this basic principle which comes naturally for the Eritrean government and people.

The three seasoned diplomats have hinted the possibility of a change of heart and the US wanting to reach out to Eritrea. Only time will tell if the US will amend its misguided policies and respect the sovereignty of Eritrea and the right of Eritreans to live in peace.

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