Political activists hostile to the Eritrean government have called for the cancellation of the Eritrean Festival 2022 scheduled for August 13 in the town of Rijswijk, Netherlands, claiming that the gathering is an expression of the political propaganda and control activities of the government of Eritrea.
Specifically, opponents accuse the youth section of the country’s single governing party, the PFDJ, of organizing these events for the purpose of exerting its control over the diaspora, as well as organizing fundraisers that, again according to the opposition, would be used to finance the conflict in Ethiopia in the Tigray region and spread a narrative of hatred toward the Tigrinya people (https://www.eepa.be/?p=6405).
Also in Germany, some political opponents had called for the suspension of the local Eritrean Festival 2022, organized for August 20 in the town of Giessen, but failed to succeed in getting the local authorities to suspend the event. Disturbances then occurred on the scheduled date of the event, when the festival venue was attacked causing the police to intervene (https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/43559/5301445).
In a mutual exchange of accusations on social media, supporters of the Eritrean government accused the attackers of actually being Tigreans sent by the TPLF government to cause unrest.
