Eritrea’s ruling single party, the PFDJ (People’s Front for Democracy and Justice), has organized over the past few weeks a series of meetings with Eritrean diaspora communities around the world.
On December 11 the meeting with the German community was held in virtual mode, led by the chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of Berlin, Yohannes Woldu, the Consul General of Frankfurt, Kibreab Tekeste, and the Director for Public Affairs and the Eritrean community, Kahsai Tewolde, with the participation via web from Asmara of some representatives of the PFDJ and institutions.
The conference was an opportunity for the party to provide the diaspora communities with an assessment of the domestic political and social dynamics – especially the Covid-19 containment strategy – and the framework of regional political dynamics, with particular reference to the conflict in Ethiopia and the growing pressure of the international community on both Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The positions of the United States and the European Union towards Eritrea were strongly criticized, with particular reference to sanctions, while the official narrative of the government in support of the Ethiopian government against the threat posed by the Tigrinya forces of the TPLF was reiterated.
On December 11 and 12 the Eritrean embassies in Italy, Switzerland and Kenya also organized meetings with their communities residing in the respective countries, again providing an overview of the domestic political and social dynamics in Eritrea and the Asmara government’s version of the evolution of the conflict in Ethiopia.
On November 27 meetings were also organized in Canada and Israel, held by the chargé d’affaires of the embassy in Tel Aviv, Solomon Kinfe, where once again the policy of the United States towards Eritrea was criticized, sanctions condemned and accusations related to human rights violations in Ethiopia by the Eritrean armed forces were rejected.
The meetings are aimed at encouraging a more active involvement of the diaspora communities in the many events organized by both the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments in support of their political line in relation to the dynamics of the conflict in the Horn of Africa. In particular, it is in the interest of both the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments to coordinate the massive media campaign related to the slogan “no more”, which the authorities in Asmara and Addis Ababa try to convey through their diaspora communities. The narrative line of Eritrea and Ethiopia connected to the slogan is the recurring one built on the attempt of the United States and the Europeans to interfere in the region by imposing unjust sanctions, reiterating the now stale and unsustainable role of the victims for both Addis Ababa and Asmara.
