Eritrea’s Steady Hand: Principles and Cooperation in the Horn of Africa

Recently, Mr. Guang Cong, the UN Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, visited Asmara and met with President Isaias Afwerki. He acknowledged Eritrea’s constructive role in regional conflict resolution and expressed commitment to working closely with the country to advance peace and stability across the Horn of Africa. His remarks reaffirm a truth long obscured by misinformation and politicized narratives: Eritrea has made consistent, meaningful contributions to regional peace, security, and cooperation.

The significance of his visit lies not only in the Envoy’s statements, but also in what they reflect. Specifically, Eritrea’s regional posture is long-standing, principled, and rooted in a consistent commitment to cooperation and stability. Understanding this broader context helps explain the country’s growing engagement with regional and international partners.

First off, Mr. Cong’s visit is only the latest in a growing series of high-level interactions. In recent years, Asmara has hosted senior leadership delegations from Sudan, as well the Special Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, in efforts to promote dialogue and de-escalation. President Isaias Afwerki’s recent visit to Egypt similarly focused on strengthening bilateral relations and addressing shared regional concerns.

Eritrea has additionally engaged with other officials and delegations at the bilateral, regional, and global levels. Collectively, these diplomatic exchanges demonstrate the growing recognition of Eritrea’s importance as a stable and reliable partner in a region often marked by crisis and conflict.

Second, Eritrea is characterized by a remarkable degree of internal peace and cohesion. Despite significant ethnolinguistic and religious diversity, the country remains a stable, unified social fabric without communal or sectarian tensions and strife that have and continue to afflict the countries in the Horn of Africa region. This internal stability, rooted in multiple factors and achieved despite years of external pressure and regional instability, has made Eritrea a steady, predictable, and reliable partner. In a Horn of Africa frequently disrupted by fragmentation and armed conflict, Eritrea’s stable internal environment remains a central reason for its growing diplomatic relevance.

Third, although detractors continue to circulate politicized and unfounded claims about Eritrea’s intentions and actions, the country’s record speaks for itself. For instance, since the outbreak of conflict in Sudan, Eritrea has played a distinctly constructive, if quiet, role. Despite its modest resources, the country has welcomed large numbers of Sudanese displaced by the fighting as a gesture of, and in the spirit, of genuine good neighbourliness. At the diplomatic level, Eritrea’s engagement with Sudanese delegations and the Special Envoy has sought to facilitate a peaceful resolution.

Eritrea’s constructive regional role is also reflected in its modest contributions to Somalia’s security sector through training and capacity building programs, undertaken at the Somalia’s explicit requests. While many external actors have long interfered in Somalia’s internal affairs in pursuit of their own geopolitical interests, Eritrea’s engagement has been guided by principles of mutual respect, solidarity, and African brotherhood.

Importantly, Eritrea’s position on Somalia is longstanding and highly consistent. It has long argued that Somalia’s challenges cannot be solved through external military means and interventions. After decades of foreign interventions that produced destabilizing and disastrous results, Eritrea has consistently held that only a Somali-owned, Somali driven process – grounded in the will of the Somali people – can deliver lasting stability.

This principled stance dates back to the early 1990s, when the international community prepared to, and advocated for, military interventions in Somalia. Eritrea voiced strong reservations against ill-advised operations with a vague mandate and no viable long-term strategy, arguing that Somalis could resolve their problems if supported in a facilitative rather than domineering manner.

In the decades that followed, as Somalia endured cycles of internal conflict, Eritrea consistently opposed the interference of neighbouring States and external powers seeking to impose their preferred outcomes, advocating instead for peace grounded in Somali agency and national ownership. In particular, Eritrea vehemently opposed the external military interventions that occurred in 2006 by falsely labelling Somalia as “the new epicenter of terrorism”.

Despite long-standing political efforts by some actors to depict Eritrea in negative light, the reality is quite different. Eritrea has repeatedly affirmed its unwavering commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter and its readiness to engage constructively – globally, regionally, and nationally – in pursuit of peace, sustainable development, human dignity, and mutual respect among nations.

More broadly, Eritrea’s regional outlook has never been defined by competition or rivalry. Its foreign policy rests on the belief that peace and progress in any part of the Horn of Africa contribute to stability and prosperity across the entire region. This principle, enshrined in Eritrea’s National Charter, asserts that national policy must advance “peace and stability in our region and in the world” while promoting constructive cooperation with all peoples and governments. The Charter further recognizes that “economic and cultural development cannot be achieved in isolation from surrounding and international countries,” underscoring Eritrea’s belief in active, principled, and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Overall, Eritrea’s approach to regional peace and cooperation is neither reactive nor opportunistic. It is rooted in longstanding principles, a commitment to sovereignty, and an insistence on locally owned solutions. As the Horn of Africa continues to face overlapping crises, the recognition shown by regional and international partners reflects an emerging reality: sustainable peace cannot be achieved without the inclusion of actors who prioritize stability over short-term political gains. Eritrea’s steady and principled engagement – often overlooked – remains essential to any genuine effort to build a more peaceful and cooperative Horn of Africa.