Russian
& East German Documents on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, 1977-78
SED
Department of International Relations, Information on talks of Ahmed Nasser
(ELF-RC) in the USSR Solidarity Committee, 7- 8 June 1978
We received the following information from the
CC of the CPSU:
The representatives of the Soviet Committee for
Solidarity explained the USSR position which is based on the assumption that
the solution of the Eritrean question has to be achieved within the framework
of a unified Ethiopian state by means of negotiations.
In effect, the three talks which were held with
Ahmed Nasser proved that the Eritrean friends are not yet willing to approach
the question by giving up the slogan of independence for Eritrea. Their argumentation
is that neither side should coerce the other one into negotiations and a solution
could only be a result of unconditional negotiations.
In the first conversation on 7 June, A. Nasser
indicated that the ELF-RC would possibly consent to a federation. In the following
talks it was not mentioned again, and by the time the third talk took place
on 8 June, the position of the Eritrean friends had even hardened.
Generally they were at pains to prove that the
ELF was the best, the [most] Marxist-Leninist of the Eritrean movements. They
pointed out their advantages as follows:
1. The ELF recognizes the progressive character
of the Ethiopian Revolution.
2. It acknowledges the importance of the Soviet-Cuban
support.
3. It does not demand preconditions.
4. It is willing to negotiate.
5. It favors the unification on a common democratic
basis.
The Soviet comrades estimate that the attitude
of the ELF appears to be slightly more flexible as those of the other Eritrean
movements but this is, however, only an appearance.
[Source:
SAPMO-BArch, DY30 IV 2/2.035/127; obtained and translated by Christian F.
Ostermann.]
