April 9, 2024
CeSEM
by Filippo Bovo
In recent days, a Russian delegation arrived in Massawa aboard the frigate Shaposhnikov, within the growing framework of friendship and strategic relations between Russia and Eritrea.
In the late afternoon of April 1st, a delegation led by Vice Admiral Vladimir Kasatonov, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, arrived in Massawa, receiving a warm welcome from General Philipos Woldeyohannes, Chief of Staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF), and other top national military leaders. Meanwhile, a rich display of music and dance performed by the Sbrit Band, organized by the Sports and Culture Commission, awaited the Russian delegates, who disembarked from the frigate “Marshal Shaposhnikov,” to ensure them an unforgettable evening.
The next morning, the delegation met with Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki for extensive discussions on strengthening bilateral ties, as outlined during the last St. Petersburg Forum. With keen interest, the President inspected the Shaposhnikov, meeting Vice Admiral Kasatonov’s enthusiastic willingness to act as a guide to the leader of a country considered the best and most reliable ally Russia could have in Africa. It is worth remembering that the relationship between the two countries, established since independence in 1993, has always enjoyed maximum constructiveness and mutual trust, with a growing momentum particularly evident in recent years. As a country completely in control of its sovereignty, not subject to or conditioned by constraints and blackmail that often burden the freedom of other African nations (such as foreign debt, foreign military presence, or the presence of NGOs and religious groups in intelligence with other countries, especially Western ones, etc.), Eritrea indeed constitutes the only stable, autonomous, and secure reference that a country like Russia can encounter on the continent, thus allowing for a truly frank and direct relationship to be established.
The illegal sanctions imposed on Eritrea precisely because of its reiterated desire for independence by the West, based on false accusations and fabricated evidence by the United States and the then Ethiopian government of the TPLF, have further pushed the country in recent years towards the need to create an alternative platform to the Western-led unipolar system, formed by free nations and based on respect for the principles of international law. In this sense, the relationship with Russia, also in struggle against the Western-led unipolar system, becomes increasingly important for Eritrea: the affinity appears as a matter of fact. Furthermore, one should not forget the growing tensions that unsettle the Horn of Africa, with Ethiopian turmoil spilling over into Sudan and Somalia, impacting the security and tranquility of Eritrea itself, as well as the longstanding Sudanese civil conflict and renewed tensions in Yemen and the Red Sea, making this vast area between East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula a crisis arc parallel to the one currently ongoing further north, from Gaza to the Middle East. This issue also involves the attention and concerns of Beijing as well as Moscow, which have long been collaborating to address it along with other crises of common interest, similarly fueled and sustained by the West: it is enough to think that the same ship “Marshal Shaposhnikov,” before docking in Massawa, had been on a mission in the South China Sea, tensions in which are notoriously the handiwork of certain particular Western powers.
In the following days, the delegation led by Kasatonov, accompanied by General Woldeyohannes, also had the opportunity to visit other areas of the country, such as Assab, where they inspected the shipbuilding and maintenance yards of Haleb, or the fish processing facilities in Borasele with their related infrastructure, and even the island of Nakura, in the suggestive and important Dahlak archipelago. As can be deduced, the Russian delegates thus crossed the entire Eritrean continental coastline, 1200 km long, from North to South, in addition to the Dahlak Islands, an archipelago consisting of 126 coral islands whose total coastline exceeds 1000 km: by adding the continental and island coastlines, one can understand the strategic importance of Eritrea, which boasts about 2300 km of coastal areas in the Red Sea, one of the most relevant in the world, a transit and communication hub between multiple oceans and continents. Having a privileged alliance with Eritrea is a coveted blessing, but precisely for this reason, it can be understood even more how the country is opposed by those like the United States or their European allies who cannot control it through their “usual” masterful methods.
On the evening of April 4th, the sailors of the Shaposhnikov reciprocated the delightful performance organized for them by their Eritrean friends in Massawa upon their arrival, with an equally unforgettable evening of music and dancing at the Roma Cinema in Asmara. What remains always unforgettable about such occasions is that, in addition to a constructive, pragmatic, and open-hearted dialogue on mutual and common political and strategic issues, the representatives of the two countries have also been able to exchange and reciprocate their cultural treasures, warmth, and folklore. The next morning, the frigate Shaposhnikov departed, after receiving fond farewells from the Governor of the Northern Red Sea Region, Asmeret Abraha, the Chief of Staff of the Eritrean Naval Force, Colonel Melake Teklemariam, and the Director-General of the Massawa and Assab Port Authority, Dawit Mengisteab.
Meanwhile, the Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Xue Bing, also arrived in Asmara, received by President Afewerki: just as in the case of the Russian delegation, we are on the same wavelength between the two countries and their political leaders, both on local and international matters, from the tragedies of Gaza to the turmoil in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, from Yemen to comprehensive bilateral, regional, and international cooperation. We will dedicate a specific analysis to this in a forthcoming article: be sure to follow us.