Eritrea and the African Union
Eritrea’s decision to send a high level delegation to the 15th AU Summit raised expectations that it would associate itself with other members of the African Union in the fight against terrorism and in helping to ensure peace, security and stability in the region and the continent at large. The move followed its acceptance of Qatar mediation and a peace agreement with Djibouti. Many thought, and indeed hoped, that this lifting of Eritrea’s self-imposed suspension from the activities of the AU, and the break from its previously near-hermetically sealed isolation from the outside world might imply a real change in policy.
Disappointingly, what the Eritrean delegation demonstrated at the Summit in Kampala was nothing of the kind. The delegation’s actions confirmed what many diplomats, sceptical of Asmara’s renewed involvement in AU activities, suspected - that Eritrea is only making cosmetic changes in policy following the UN Security Council decision to impose sanctions last December over its destabilisation efforts in the region, its involvement in Somalia in collaboration with Al Shabaab and other terrorist groups and its occupation of Djiboutian territory.
At the Summit, AU member states were nearly unanimous in their determination to provide AMISOM with more troops and greater financial and logistical resources. Eritrea was in fact the only exception. The Heads of State and Government also made it very clear they wanted to see AMISOM with an expanded mandate which could allow it to take the offensive against Al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups as well strengthen the TFG. Eritrea’s Foreign Minister, Osman Saleh, however denied the presence of terrorist groups in Somalia and hypocritically advocated that priority should be given to political solutions. An appropriate response was given to that proposal when the Ethiopian delegation said political solutions should not be used as a cover for efforts designed to support terrorist like Al-Shabaab. In fact, the Eritrean delegation not only opposed the Summit’s decisions on Somalia but also played a very negative role on some of the items which attracted lengthy exchanges of views, most particularly on those items introduced by the Libyan delegation.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that there has been no change of mind by Eritrea, no decision to play a positive role in AU’s activities or in the AU’s efforts to ensure peace, security and stability in the Horn of Africa or the continent at large. Those who were expecting that Eritrea was about to change policy and behave in a more normal way will have been disappointed.