A Press Statement “on the latest developments in Ethiopia’’ issued by the Spokespersons of the EU on Wednesday this week accuses Eritrea for “impeding the ongoing efforts towards peace in Ethiopia’’.  This accusation is not only factually baseless but it also overlooks, willfully and for ulterior political considerations, the fundamental causes and dynamics of the war in Ethiopia.

In the first place, the war in Ethiopia was triggered by the TPLF when it launched a massive, premeditated and unprovoked War of Insurrection against the Federal Government in the first weeks of November 2020.  TPLF’s war plans included concomitant military measures against Eritrea as part and parcel of its hostile policies of territorial aggrandizement and “regime change” that it had doggedly pursued for almost two decades when it was at the helm of power in Ethiopia. 

It must be emphasized here that the EU – both collectively and through its individual Member States – extended substantial budgetary and other fungible assistance to the TPLF throughout these years despite its illegal occupation of sovereign Eritrean territories in contravention of the EEBC Award and the Algiers Peace Agreement facilitated and brokered by the EU and other powers.  The EU’s kid glove treatment of the TPLF in those years did not only contribute to regional instability but emboldened the TPLF to violate international law with impunity.

Secondly, the current cycle of war was again ignited by the TPLF when it launched its third offensive on 24 August last month.  To pursue its reckless and repetitive military offensives, the TPLF continues routinely to commit abominable crimes, including forced conscription of child soldiers that it is using as cannon fodder in its human-wave attacks.  It has funneled WFP fuel and trucks for its war effort.  These acts have not been condemned by the EU and certain powers who seem to have an interest to downplay TPLF’s sole culpability and portray it as a “victim”.  It is important to recognize that this misguided policy is indeed a key factor that continues to embolden the TPLF and to that extent, exacerbate the conflict in Ethiopia. 

Eritrea’s regional policy is otherwise firmly anchored on promotion of regional peace, stability, and economic cooperation on the basis of full respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Member States.  Indeed, Eritrea cherishes regional peace as it has been affected by imposed and intermittent wars in the past decades.

16 September 2022

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