May 25, 2024

Toronto – As Eritrea celebrates its 33rd anniversary of Independence, Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki – in a speech to his people on the occasion – said what he called “hegemonic powers” are plotting to trigger another war in the region.

“Hegemonic powers’ interest in triggering another round of war has become a public knowledge,” Ethiopian news sources cited him as saying.  Details of it are undisclosed and the president pledged to unveil it in the future in a convenient time. 

The President has highlighted that the Eritrean Defense Force is ready for any eventuality and that the Eritrean People should not be concerned about it. 

Furthermore, he said that Eritrea will strengthen its cooperation with its neighbors and allies in the region. 

Global politics is another area about which he remarked during his speech. . TesfaNews, Eritrean News source, reported that the president  “highlighted the unstainable and potentially catastrophic consequences of western strategies aimed at dominating and containing  major global powers like Russia and China.” 

Eritrea declared independence from Ethiopia in May 1993 following several decades of armed struggle. In 1998-2000, Eritrea fought  a bloody war  when a conflict broke out over “border dispute.” That  time Eritrea fought against a former political and military ally – Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which was in control of the Ethiopian state.  

The end of the two year’s war was followed by two decades of no-peace-and no-war relation.  The tense relation between the two countries ended in 2018 when Abiy Ahmed initiated a peace policy towards Eritrea for which he was awarded a “Nobel Peace Prize”.  

The friendly relation between Eritrea and Abiy Ahmed’s government was short lived as the latter expressed interest in “access to the sea by any means.”  

Eritrea was involved in the recent war in Ethiopia in response to TPLF provocation and was an ally to the Ethiopian government. Soon after the Pretoria agreement, the Abiy Administration moved in the direction of forming an apparent political and military alliance with the TPLF forces ,and his party has been holding a series of political talks. 

There are speculations that Abiy Ahmed’s Administration might open war against Eritrea.  The government of Eritrea seems to have popular support in Ethiopia, especially in the Amhara region.