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The Eritrean Political Forces Declaration for National Unity and Defense of Sovereignty

 Preamble

We, the Eritrean Political Forces — along with the Eritrean people at home and in the diaspora, from every region, community, and political background — stand as one in defense of our nation’s independence, territorial integrity, and sovereign rights.

This is an affirmation of international law, an exercise of the right of the Eritrean people to independence and freedom — a legal stand, a historic call to unity, and a declaration that the destiny of Eritrea belongs solely to its people.

Our campaign is not for the defense of any one government, party, or leader. It is for the defense of Eritrea itself — its land, its seas, its people, and its right to exist as a free and independent nation.

Political Map of Eritrea: -The map shows Eritrea and surrounding countries with international borders, the national capital Asmara, administrative capitals, major cities, main roads, railroads, and major airports.

We affirm our commitment to:

• The full sovereignty and territorial integrity of Eritrea, safeguarded under international law and the will of its people.
• Democratic change within Eritrea, so that justice, freedom, and accountable governance match sovereignty.
• Good neighborly relations with Ethiopia and all nations, based on mutual respect, non-interference, and international law.

Our Position

The Ethiopian government’s recent claims to Eritrean territory and maritime access — including a threat to occupy the port of Assab by force — are a direct violation of:

• International law
• The outcome of the 1993 UN-supervised Referendum
• The principle of Uti Possidetis Juris — in the African context, this refers to the idea that the borders inherited at independence are upheld by the African Union principle of colonial borders

We reject any attempt to undermine Eritrea’s independence under the guise of history, proximity, or political convenience. The Eritrean people, regardless of political affiliation, will stand together to resist any aggression or occupation.

Our Call to the Ethiopian Government

We demand that the Government of Ethiopia:

1. Cease all claims to Eritrean territory or maritime access by force or occupation, including through Assab or any other port.
2. End all hostile actions and rhetoric that threaten peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.
3. Respect the 1993 Referendum outcome and the sovereignty of Eritrea as recognized by the United Nations, the African Union, and the then-existing Ethiopian government.
4. Urgently and unconditionally complete the final and binding border demarcation in accordance with the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) decision, to permanently settle the border conflict and remove the root cause of future disputes.
5. Commit to peaceful dialogue as the only path to resolving disputes between our nations.

Our Call to the Eritrean Government

We remind the Government of Eritrea that sovereignty is best defended through the unity and will of the people, not through secretive deals, mixed signals, or unilateral military gambits.

We therefore call on the Government of Eritrea to:

1. Cease all political gestures or alignments that could be interpreted as endorsing or enabling Ethiopia’s territorial or maritime claims.
2. Publicly reaffirm — without ambiguity — Eritrea’s full independence, territorial integrity, and rejection of any foreign claim to its land or sea.
3. Refrain from issuing contradictory statements on border demarcation — at times downplaying it as a non-issue, and at other times portraying it as grounds for military action. The government’s position must be consistent, transparent, and aligned with Eritrea’s long-term national interest.
4. Avoid initiating provocative armed action under the guise of “preemptive action.” The Eritrean people’s stand is defensive, lawful, and rooted in international legitimacy.
5. Refrain from interfering in Ethiopia’s internal political affairs or participating in its armed conflicts.
6. Engage the people transparently in all matters concerning national security, ensuring that decisions reflect the will of the nation, not the calculations of a few.
7. Cease repression of political rights in Eritrea — defending Eritrea’s borders must not be used as a pretext to silence calls for democratic change.

Our Call to the Eritrean People

We call on all Eritreans — inside the country and abroad — to:

1. Stand united in defense of our independence, regardless of political differences.
2. Reject any internal division that weakens our national position in the face of external threats.
3. Support lawful, democratic change that strengthens our sovereignty and the rights of our people.
4. Engage in civic action — through media, diplomacy, and peaceful mobilization — to make our voice heard globally.
5. Preserve our history and legacy by passing on the truth of our struggle for independence and freedom to future generations.
6. Recognize that genuine change can only be achieved through the abolition of dictatorial rule and the establishment of a constitutional system of governance that guarantees the rights, freedoms, and dignity of all citizens.

Our Call to the International Community

We urge the United Nations, the African Union, and all peace-loving nations to:

1. Uphold international law and the sanctity of recognized borders.
2. Condemn any attempt to alter Eritrea’s territorial status by force or coercion.
3. Support peaceful resolution of disputes in the Horn of Africa through dialogue and mutual respect.
4. Support and guarantee the immediate implementation of the final and binding border demarcation between Eritrea and Ethiopia, ensuring a lasting resolution to the border conflict.
5. Recognize and support the will and readiness of the Eritrean people for Ethiopia to make use of Eritrean sea ports only through peaceful dialogue, mutual agreement, and in full respect of Eritrea’s sovereignty.

Conclusion

This DECLARATION is a pledge: Eritrea’s sovereignty is not for sale, negotiation, or compromise. We will defend it with unity, dignity, and determination. Our struggle is not against the Ethiopian people, but against any policy or action that seeks to erase our independence.

Our Independence and Sovereignty: Eternal and Unyielding!
EPF — September 23, 2025 (Second Edition)

Copy to:

1. E. Marco Rubio – Secretary of State of the United States
2. E. Yvette Cooper – Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom
3. E. Annalena Baerbock – President of the United Nations General Assembly
4. E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf – Chairperson of the African Union Commission
5. E. Kaja Kallas – High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
6. E. Filippo Grandi – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
7. E. Volker Türk – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
8. E. Dr. Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker – Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ  ን30 ዓመታት መሪርን ጽንኩርን ቃልሲ ኣካይዱ; ናጽነትን ልኡላውነትን ሃገር ከረጋግጽ ናይ ምብቃዑ ምስጢር፡ ንናይ ታሪኽ ተመራመርቲ ከይተረፈ፡ ኣዛራብነቱ ክሳብ ሎሚ ኣይሃሰሰን። ብዛዕባ ምስጢር ናይቲ ናብ ዓወት ዘብጸሐ ጽንዓት ብዙሕ ምዝርዛር ከም ዝከኣል ርዱእ ኮይኑ፡ እቲ ገሊሁን በሪኹን ዝረአ ምኽንያት፡ ኤርትራውያን ብሓባር ኣብ ዙርያ’ቲ “ሓደ ኣብ  ዝሓየለን ዝሰፈሐን ወሳኒ ራኢ  ነጽናት ምዕሳልና እዩ” ዝበል፡ እቲ ዝደመቐ ትርጉም ናይቲ ምስጢር ዓወት  እዩ። እቲ ኣብ  ቃልሲ ኣንጻር መግዛእቲ  ዝተራእየ፡ ሓደ ኣብ ዝገብረና ብምጽውዋርን ምክእኣልን ተገዚእካ ምዕሳል፡ ሎሚ’ውን ቀጻልን ማዕባልን ክኸውን ዘለዎ ባህሊ እምበር፡ ኣብ መድረኽ ቃልሲ ንነጻነት ስርሑ ወዲኡ ዘብቅዕ  ኣይኮነን።

ኣብቲ ነዊሕን መሪርን ቃልሲ ንናጻነት፡ ኣብ ኤርትራውያን ንኡሳን  ናይ ኣረዳድኣ ፍልልያት ኣይነበሩን ማለት ኣይኮነን። እንተኾነ እቶም ሃይማኖታዊ፡ ቋንቋዊ፡ ባህላውን ካለኦትን ጽልዋ ዝነበሮም ፍልልያት፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ እቲ ዓብይ ናይ ናጻነት ራኢ ዝቕለሱን ዝመሓደሩን እምበር፡ ኣብ ግምት ዘይዋሃቦም ኣይነበሩን።  እዚ ብቕዓትን ትዕግስትን ከኣ ነብሱ ዝኸኣለ ናይ ዓወትና ምስጢር እዩ ነይሩ። እቲ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ህዝባዊ፡ ፖለቲካውን ወተሃደራውን ቃልስና ዝተኸተልናዮ ነቲ ብሓባር ዘሰልፈካ ቅድሚት ናይ ምስራዕ ብቕዓት ሎሚ እውን ክንክተሎ ዝግበኣና መሰረታዊ ተረድኦ እዩ።

ሎሚ ኣብ ክንዲ ነቲ ብግብሪ ዘዕወተና ምጽውዋር ብዝያዳ ነሕይሎ፡ ናይ ዘለቕለቕን ጸቢብ ስሰዐን ምልክታት እንተርኢና፡ ነቲ ብተመኩሮ ዝተረጋገጸ ምስጢር ዓወታትና ዘዳኽም ስለ ዝኸውን፡ ኤርትራውያን ፍሉይ ቆላሕታ ሂብና ክንግንዘቦን ክንሰርሓሉን ይግበኣና። ከምኡ እንተዘይጌርና ግና ኣብ ቅድሚ እቶም ታሪኽ ጽንዓት፡ ሓድነትን ምክእኣልን ህዝብና ዝፈልጡ ኣካላት ከይተረፈ፡ ዘሻቕል እምበር ዘቕስን ኣይኮነን።

እቲ ኣብ ምርግጋጽ ናጻነት ኣብ ሓደ ጽኑዕን ዘይሕለልን መስመር ዘሰለፈና ናይ ሓባርና ተረደኦ፡ ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ኣንጻር ሉኣለውነትና ዘንጸላልው ካብ ዘሎ ናይ ግዳም ድፍረት ንምዕቃብ እውን ዘመናዊ ምዕባለ መራኸብታት ኣሰኒኻን ቃኒኻን ዝሰዓብ እምበር፡ “ግዜኡ ዝሓለፎ” ኢልካ እትገድፎ  ኣይኮነን።  እቲ ሓሓሊፉ  ብመንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ዝረአ ዘሎ መርተዖ ዘየብሉ ብልኡላውነት ኤርትራ ክትጣላዕ ላዕልን ታሕትን ምባል ኣዕጊስካ፡ ግቡእ መንገዲ ንምትሓዙ እውን ኣብ ዙርያቲ ሓደ ዝገብረና “ምዕቃብ ብኽቡር ዋጋ ዝተረጋገጸ ልኡላውነት ህዝብን ሃገርን” ኣጽኒዕና  ከነትክል ምርጫ ዘይኮነ ግደታ እዩ።

ዕባራ ምኽንያታት ብምዝርዛር፡ “ልኡላውነት ኤርትራ እንተዘይገሃስና” ኢሎም ዘዕለብጡ ዘለዉ ናይ ግዳም  ወገናት፡ ክፈጥርዎ ዝደልዩ መጣልዒ ሸርሒ፡ ምናልባት ምስ ህልዊ ምዕባለ ናይ መልክዕ ፍልልይ እንተዘይሃልይዎ፡ ብባህሪኡ ካብቶም ቅድሚ 80 ዓመታት ጀሚሮ ዝፈሓሱ ዝነበሩ ኤርትራን ህዝባን ዓምጢርካ ናይ ምንብርካኽ ውዲታት ዝተፈልየ ኣይኮነን። እቶም ዝቐርቡ ስንኩፋት መመሳመሲ ምኽንያታት ድማ፡ ወዮ ጽኑዕ መሰረት ዘየብሎም፡ ከከምግዜኡን በሃሊኡን  ተለዋወጥቲ እዮም።

ሜጀር ጀነራል ተሾመ ገመቹ ዝተባህለ፡ ኣብ ሰራዊት ኢትዮጵያ ዳይረክተር ክፍሊ ዲፕሎማስን ናይ ወጻኢ ምትሕብባርን፡ ኣብዚ ቀረባ መዓልታት ፕራይም (prime) ምስ ዝተባህለት መዲያ ኣብ ዝገበሮ ቃለ መጠይቕ፡ ከም ወሰንቲ ረቛሕታት ንምውናን ኣፍደገ ባሕሪ  ኢሉ፡ “ኤርትራ ኣኽሊል ልኡላውነት ኣብ ዝደፈኣትዩ ኣፍልጦ ዝሃባ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ግዝያዊ ስለ ዝነበረ፡ ኣብ ግዜ ደርጊ  ዓሰብን ከባቢኣን ካብ ኤርትራ ዝተፈልየ ምምሕዳር ምንባሩ፡ ኢትዮጵያ ካብ ኣፍደገ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ዘለዋ ርሕቀት ቀረባ ምዃኑ፡  ኣዲስ ኣበባ ከይተረፈት ካብ ባሕሪ ብዝትኮስ ከቢድ ብረት ክትውቃዕ ስለ እትኽእል ንጸጥተና ኣስጋኢ ብምዃኑ” እናበለ ክዝርዝር ተሰሚዑ።

 እዚ ጀነራል፡ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ዘይስገር ኮይንዎ እምበር፡ ፈትዩ ንልኡላውነት ኤርትራ ኣፍልጦ ከምዘይሃበ ዝዘንገዐ እዩ። ቀዳማይ ምኒስተር  ኣብይ ኣሕመድ ብወገኑ፡ ንሃልክን ሸንኮለልን ክብል ኣብዚ ቀረባ መዓልታት “ሽሕ ዓመት ዝወሰደ ጉዳይ ሩባ ኣባይ’ኳ ዝፈታሕናዮ፡ ሰላሳ ዓመት ዝዕድሚኡ ጉዳይ ኣፍደገ ባሕሪ ጽባሕ ስለ ዝእረም ዘጸግመና ኣይኮነን” ዝበሎ እውን ሓድሽ’ኳ እንተዘይኮነ፡ ኣዝዩ ዘተዓዛዝብ እዩ። እንተኾነ ኩሉ’ዚ ኣበሃህላ ላዕለዎት ሰብ መዚ ኢትዮጵያ ንምድንጋር እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ ኣብ ቅድሚ  ምስ ባሕሪ ዝተሓሓዝ ዓለም ለኻዊ ሕግታት ኣፍልጦ ዝወሃቦ ትርጉምን የብሉን።  

እዚ ኩሉ ናይ ኢትዮጵያውያን ነበረያ ነበረ፡ ናይ ኤርትራያውን ኣብ ክንዲ ናብቲ ዝዓበየ ንኹልና ዝሓቁፍ ምስሊ፡ ናብ ናእሽቱን ጸበብትን ምስልታት ሸረፍረፍ ምባል እንተዘይተወሲኽዎ፡ ከቶ ንኢትዮጵያን ህዝባን ዘምጸኣሎም ረብሓ  የለን። ህግደፍ ክፈጥሮ ዝጸንሐ ልኡላውነት ሃገር ዘነኣእስ ምግልባጥ ዘሕድሮ ኣሉታዊ ተጽዕኖ’ውን ዝዝንጋዕ ኣይኮነን። እንተ ብገርሆም ወይ ብጉርሖም ብመንፈስ “ዝሓዝካ ሒዝካ ምጉያይ”፡ ከምቲ “ብዕራይሲ ዝበልዖ ሳዕሪ እምበር፡ ዝጽበዮ ገደል ኣይረኣዮን”  ዝበሃል፡ ዝስዕቦ መዘዝ ብምዝንጋዕ፡ ኣንጻርቲ ዝዓብየ ናይ ሓባር ሃገራዊ  ዛዕባ ክስለፉ ዝደልዩ ኤርትራውን   ከኣ መንገዶም ኣብ ትዕዝብቲ ምውዳቕ እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ መኽሰብ ከምዘይህልዎ ደጋጊሞም ከገናዝቡ ነዘኻኽሮም።

ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ እዚ ዝጐደሎ ንዘይበሃል፡ ኣህጉራዊ ትካላት እውን ዝምስክርዎ ወጽዓን ጭቆናን፡ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰዲህኤ “ኤርትራ ቁጠባኣ ዝዓነወ፡ ህንጻታታ ዝኣረገ፡ ህዝባዊ ትካላታ፡ ዝፈረሰ መጉዓዝያታታን መራኸቢ መስኖታታን ዝተዳህከ ቁሸት ኮይና ከም ዘላ ባዕሉ እቲ ርእሰ ሃገር ዝበሃል መላኺ ዝተኣመነሉ  ኮይኑ ኣሎ። ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ነዚ ህልዊ ኣሰካፊ ዘቤታዊ ጉዳያት ካብ  ምጥንጣን ሓሊፉ፡ ተወሰኽቲ ግህሰታት ካብ ምፍጻም እውን ኣየቋረጸን። “ ብዝብል’ዩ ገሊጽዎ። ነዚ ተደራራቢ ወጽዓ ምውጋድ ከኣ ካብ ምዕቃብ ልኡላውነት ብዘይፍለ፡ ሓደ ዝገብረናን ማዕረ ዝብጸሓናን ሃገራውን ህዝባውን ኣጀንዳ ስለ ዝኾነ፡ በዓል ድርብ ዕማም ቃልሲ ንምዕዋት ድሉዋት ክንከውን እዋናዊ’ዩ።  

ከምቲ ኣሰላፍና ኣዘባሪቖም፡ ንልኡላውነትና ዘለና ክብሪ ንምድኻምን ንምክፍፋልናን ዝጽዕቱ ናይ ግዳም ሓይልታት ከይብለጹልና  እንጥንቀቖ፡ መንገድና ኣስሒቶምን ዓቕምና ከፋፊሎምን መቐጸሊ ዕድመ ስልጣን ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ክንከውን ካብ ዝሓልሙ መሳርሕታቱ ምጥንቃቕ ከኣ ኣብ ቅድሜና ካብ ዘለዉ ናይ ሓባር ብደሆታት እዩ። ድሕሪ ምውጋድ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ከመይ ዝኣመሰለ ኤርትራዊ ምምሕዳር ከም እንመርጽ ብደረጃ ውልቂ ይኹን ብመልክዕ  ውዱብ ናይ ኣተሓሳስባ ምፍልልይ ክህልወና ንቡርን ብሕገመንግስታዊ ዘይምእኩል ምምሕዳር  ክውገን ከምዝኽእል ድማ እምንቶ ሰዲህኤ እዩ።

 እቲ ሃሳይን ኣሰካፍን ዝኸውን፡ ነቲ ደሓር ዝዕመም ቅድሚ’ቲ ሓቢርና ከነዕውቶ ዝግበኣና፡  “ምውጋድ ስርዓት ህግደፍ”  ክስራዕ እንከሎ እዩ። ስለዚ ኣብዚ እውን “ኣየናይ እዩ እቲ ዝሰፈሐን ዝሓየለን ብሓባር ዘሰልፈና ኣጀንዳ”  ከነለሊ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ብምሉእ ዓቕምና ተሰሊፍና ከነዕውቶ’ውን መተካእታ የብልናን።