By Bereket Kidane,
SPRING is symbolic of starting new projects, sewing new seeds and coming forth with new ideas.
We’ve all heard of the Arab Spring. Spring has finally come to Brussels as far as Eritrea is concerned. There is definitely a “European Spring” going on with respect to Eritrea.
After conducting extensive research and examining its policies toward the State of Eritrea, Europe seems to recognize the righteousness of the policies of the Government of Eritrea and wants to stop its destructive policies toward the country.
It’s a welcome development because it was exactly what former U.S. Ambassadors Herman Cohen and David Shinn recommended a couple of years back. Europe takes the lead first then America follows. It’s a hopeful sign indeed.
It’s possible that the Government of Eritrea may have adjusted some of its policies to bring about this thaw in tension with Europe, but it appears that it was mostly done at Europe’s own initiative, namely Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Lapo Pistelli’s outreach and one-on-one meetings and frank discussions with several government officials in Eritrea.
Eritrea’s neighbor are getting nervous and had engaged in massive propaganda practice to tarnish Eritrea’s image, but the truth always wins out as in the Eritrea’s case.
It won’t be long before Spring comes to Washington.