“A people who do not know their history and culture are like a tree without roots,” says an Eritrean proverb. Eritrea and its people do have those roots: firmly anchored in a long, complex history.
After the end of Italian colonialism (1941), Eritrea became the object of international deals. First under British rule, then in a federation with Ethiopia (1952–1962) which was eventually abolished. Eritrea lost all constitutional status and was downgraded to the status of a province of the Ethiopian Empire. The rights of the people did not count. The country was treated as geopolitical prey.
When peaceful struggle proved impossible, Hamid Idris Awate started the armed liberation struggle in 1961. The Thirty Years’ War (1961–1991) evolved rapidly thanks to young people who shaped the EPLF: revolutionary, pragmatic and focused on both military liberation and social transformation. In the liberated territories, the Tegadelti built schools, hospitals, workshops, and even printing plants—an embryonic state that proved that independence was not a dream but a concrete project.
Ethiopia received support from major powers—but despite napalm, cluster bombs and massive repression, the DERG regime never broke Eritrean resistance. Major battles such as Afabet (1988) and Operation Fenkil (1990) eventually led to the liberation of Asmara on May 24, 1991. Menghistu fled; Eritrea was actually free. In 1993, a referendum unanimously confirmed independence.
However, the peace was short. In 1998, the new Ethiopian leadership unleashed a border war. Despite international rulings, Addis Ababa continued to refuse to apply them, leading to twenty years of “neither war nor peace”, diplomatic isolation and heavy sanctions. Eritrea once again opted for self-reliance: dams, reforestation, water basins, and ecological development constituted an impressive program of endogenous progress.
In 2018, the peace agreement with Abiy Ahmed brought a temporary thaw and the lifting of sanctions. But after the Tigray conflict, Ethiopia returned to hostile politics, partly stimulated by external actors. Nevertheless, Eritrea is once again on the international stage today as a crucial factor of stability in the Horn of Africa, with renewed diplomatic relations and regional security role, including in Somalia and Sudan.
Decades after Aware’s first shots, Eritrea remains upright. The struggle has changed—from liberation to development and diplomacy—but the core remains the same: freedom is not a gift, but the result of self-sacrifice and indestructible unity. Today, it is building a society in which social justice and economic progress prevail despite the permanent threats from Ethiopia.
Eritrea is nevertheless a source of stability in the turbulent region of the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa. Countries that are under heavy pressure from imperialism, such as Sudan, can rely on Eritrea’s support.
Eritrea is not a socialist country. How could that be? The workers represent only 7% of the population, which consists mainly of small farmers. The national bourgeoisie is also limited in number. The EPLF, Eritrea’s unity party, strives for the greatest possible social equality, taking into account the country’s limited degree of development. The people enjoy the beginnings of social welfare, health care and education are virtually free. Eritrea does support the countries that oppose US imperialism. On March 2, 2022, the UN General Assembly voted on the US proposal of sanctions against Russia. 5 countries voted against: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Syria, Belarus and Russia. Eritrea is sometimes called “the North Korea of Africa”.
Eritrea is hardly known in Belgium. Until a few years ago, there was a huge media campaign against the country. Completely absurd. The reason was the many refugees from Eritrea, especially well-educated young people who were lured to the West to undermine the country. Young people (especially from the middle class) feared conscription because of the impending war with Ethiopia.
Those young people were quickly disillusioned in the West. But fortunately they were well taken care of mostly by the Eritrean diaspora who live in many countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, the Scandinavian countries. That diaspora that emerged from the years 1961 to 1991 in a period when Ethiopia was waging a terrible war in Eritrea to prevent its liberation. That diaspora is massively behind Eritrea and its President Afwerki.