Russian
& East German Documents on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, 1977-78
SED
official Hermann Axen to E. Honecker, 18 April 1978, enclosing Draft Letter
from Honecker to Brezhnev on Ethiopian-Eritrean Talks, 19 April 1978
Enclosure: Honecker to Brezhnev, 19 April 1978
Esteemed Comrade Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev!
On 23 March 1978, the second meeting between the
representatives to the Provisional Military Administrative Council of Socialist
Ethiopia and the Eritrean Liberation Front took place. Upon request by the
Politburo of the CC of the SED, Comrade Hermann Axen, member of the Politburo
and CC secretary, participated in the talks.
[Berhanu Bayeh and Aforki declared again their
desire to terminate the bloodshed and to do everything to solve the Eritrean
problem by peaceful means.]
Despite this declaration made by both negotiators,
the political negotiations showed that the positions on both sides had become
stiffer.
The representative of the Provisional Military
Administrative Council was inclined to favor a predominantly military solution
of the Eritrean problem. They did not make any concrete or constructive proposals
for a peaceful and political solution although Comrade Werner Lamberz had
agreed with Mengistu Haile Mariam on working papers in December 1977.
The attitude of the representatives of the Eritrean
Liberation Movement illustrated, on the other hand that, under the pressure
by the leadership of the Sudan and the Arab reaction, there has been a strengthening
of nationalist, openly separatist forces within the Eritrean movements, especially
by means of the coordination between the Eritrean People's Liberation Front
and the Eritrean Liberation Front (Revolutionary Council).
The leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation
Front, Aforki, presented the demand for a separate Eritrean state in even
harsher terms. Only after long sharp discussion was he willing to agree to
this second meeting and to the further examination of the proposals made by
the SED. Thus it was possible to hold the second meeting. In the course of
the meeting, the representatives of the Ethiopian leadership and the EPLF
reiterated their known positions. They accepted the SED proposal - this proposal
was, as is well known, agreed to by the CC of the CPSU - to put the following
four points before the Provisional Military Administrative Council and the
Central Committee of the EPLF as recommendations for a settlement:
1. Both sides confirm their resolve to stop the
bloodshed immediately and bring about a political solution.
2. The Provisional Military Administrative Council
of Ethiopia will make a public declaration expressing its concrete proposals
for the implementation of regional autonomy for Eritrea in the framework of
the Ethiopian state and under inclusion of all willing positive forces in
Eritrea.
The Central Committee of the EPLF recognizes the
achievements of the Ethiopian Revolution and declares itself ready for cooperation
in the interest of implementation of regional autonomy.
3. Revolutionary Ethiopia's secure access to the
Red Sea must be guaranteed by its uninterrupted access lines and its control
over Asmara and the ports of Massawa and Assab.
4. Both sides form a common commission for the
purpose of implementing the above points and all other steps for the security
of the Revolution in Ethiopia and regional autonomy in Eritrea.
It was agreed to inform the leadership organizations
of Ethiopia and of the EPLF and have them communicate their positions on the
results of the second meeting and the proposals of the SED at a third meeting
in the GDR in mid-May.
Thus the second meeting undermined all attempts
by the representatives of the EPLF to break off all political contacts and
negotiations with the Provisional Military Administrative Council of Ethiopia
[as they had previously intended to do].
But the situation involves the acute danger that
the fighting over Eritrea will escalate and that the Arab reaction and the
imperialists will intervene even further and attempt to internationalize the
conflict. This would severely endanger the revolutionary developments in Ethiopia.
The Politburo of the CC of the SED is of the opinion
that everything has to be done to achieve a political solution of the Eritrean
question. The safeguarding of the revolutionary process in Ethiopia and its
territorial as well as political integrity is a necessary precondition for
this. The Provisional Military Administrative Council must doubtless have
reliable control over its free access to the Red Sea. This, however, must
be safeguarded by political and military means. It is our impression following
the recent meeting that the Provisional Military Administrative Council is
only oriented towards the military tasks in this matter and, despite repeated
verbal assurances, has not made any concrete political steps in winning over
the Eritrean population for the implementation of regional autonomy.
We therefore think that the Provisional Military
Administrative Council should without further delay address an appeal to all
willing forces in Eritrea for the peaceful political solution of the Eritrean
problem. It would have to render more precisely the proposals it has made
so far by concrete suggestions on the implementation of the right for self-determination
of the different nations within Ethiopia in order to speed up the process
of differentiation within the Eritrean population and to isolate the reactionary,
separatist forces in Eritrea.
Based on the results of the last meeting, the Politburo
of our Party proposes therefore that the Soviet comrades, in conjunction with
representatives of our Party, work out internally possible solutions to the
regional autonomy of Eritrea in the framework of the Ethiopian state in order
to communicate them at the appropriate time to the Chairman of the Provisional
Military Administrative Council, Mengistu Haile Mariam.
[Closing remarks]
[Source:
SAPMO-BArch, DY30 IV 2/2.035/127; document obtained and translated by Christian
F. Ostermann.]
