Diaspora Attacks: Part of West’s Plan to ‘Deal with Eritrea’

Recently, there has been organized violence and vandalism in some European cities and elsewhere against Festivals and other National Events organized by Eritrean communities in the Diaspora, the most recent being in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The objective is to disrupt decades-old, exemplary, and rich cultural events that Eritreans in the Diaspora hold at auspicious historical junctures throughout the year to preserve their national identity and heritage; deepen their national cohesion; and, cement their bondage with their homeland. These reasons are expounded here.

But more than that, one must view these attacks against diaspora Eritreans in the context of Europe’s brutal goal to thwart Africa’s struggle against neocolonialism – an endeavor in which Europeans consider Isaias a ‘bad’ good example for Africa, in the words of Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State.

It is within this framework that European nations have consistently pursued a foreign policy towards Eritrea aimed at regime attenuation and regime change and with Africa in mind, ideological containment.

Ever since Eritrea rejected foreign aid and expelled Western NGOs, it became a mortal enemy to Europe. Europe viewed the country’s self-reliance policy as a potential threat to the sustainability of Western economic influence in Africa, a system through which they perpetuate the exploitation of African human, material, and natural resources.

But when all is said and done, considering the frantic pace at which this demonization is occurring today, as evidenced by the now daily and openly expressed, albeit futile calls to ‘get rid’ of the Eritrean president, and the increasing desperation evident in the violent attacks on peaceful Eritrean festivals across European cities, one must ask — why now?

And to that question, the answer was perhaps best given by Mirjam Van Reisen, a Dutch academic whose academic works and discourses seem hellbent on destabilizing the Horn of Africa. “What is the plan, what is the idea of dealing with Eritrea?”, she recently asked, before frustratingly sighing:  “That is the most important question” facing Europeans today.

According to her, ‘all of us’ [Western] politicians, policymakers, researchers & other responsibilities need to understand what President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea is thinking in order to get ‘rid of him’.

Another, Martin Plaut, who once infamously called for the ‘burning down’ of Eritrean embassies, very much emphasized the same, declaring that President Isaias was a portent threat that Europe ‘needs to deal away’ with.

The two, Plaut and Reinsen, have since taken the lead in their respective academic and media roles, spearheading the renewed offensive to vilify the Eritrean President, harm the Eritrean communities in the diaspora, and attack the essence of Eritrean identity. Reisen is leading the academic wing, while Plaut is leading the media wing of this most vicious European campaign against Eritrea.

But it’s not just them; they are only part of a broader European collusion involving media, academic, diplomatic, and even intelligence networks across European cities and their allies. These networks are being mobilized to expedite the decades-long plan of ‘containing’ Eritrea, of ensuring that the revolutionary economic and political philosophy of President Isias does not spread to the rest of Africa.

If you are wondering why the plan currently seems in overdrive, it is in response to the recent decision by the Eritrean president to break the blockade on his country and its ideas. President Isaias is once again taking deliberate actions, reminiscent of what he did after leading Eritrea to independence.

These actions once led the West to label him as the biggest threat to European interests in Africa. Now, he is openly providing strategic ideological direction for Africa, and this time, he has a continent that has become more receptive over the years.

Following the conclusion of the liberation struggle that led to Eritrea’s independence in 1991 and the establishment of the foundations for a self-reliant Eritrea, President Isaias turned his attention to the rest of Africa.

His efforts culminated in a seminal paper in 1997, in which he demystified the harmful concept of foreign aid and recommended actions for African nations. These actions were perceived by Europeans as a significant challenge to their neocolonial plans.

Over the past six months, President Isaias has embarked on a similar path, causing Europe to tremble. His timing is particularly significant, coinciding with a peak in anti-Western sentiment in Africa as the continent pushes back against neo-colonialism.

Listen to his addresses since his major foreign trips to China and Russia, as well as in his meetings in Egypt, the BRICS summit, and most recently, the Climate summit in Kenya – and you will see why Europeans are increasingly uncomfortable and have resorted to mobilizing African goons to attack Eritrean communities in the diaspora.

In each of these addresses, President Isaias emphasizes Africa’s independence, the necessity to reject foreign aid through the current European financial architecture, and the urgency for Africa to free itself from Western imperialism. That is the reason they are up against him and Eritreans in the diaspora.