#  Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The stance and robust solidarity of the people and Government of Eritrea on the cause of the people of South Sudan is an indelible historical fact that is embossed on granite. In the event, it does not require third-party testimony or validation; nor can it be misconstrued for sinister purposes. Eritrea’s unfaltering historical stance was never adulterated by whimsical considerations in response to fluid or changing developments and realities.

Furthermore, the people and Government of Eritrea went beyond mere recognition and endorsement to earnestly cultivate strategic ties with South Sudan and to extend their modest contributions when the people of South Sudan chose independence in exercising their right to self-determination, and, as they embarked on the challenging, nation-building, process to create a sovereign State that fulfills their aspirations. Again, Eritrea’s unequivocal stance in regard to the new realities was not influenced by, and occurred irrespective of, the factors and protagonists that impinged on the unfolding developments.

Indeed, the people and Government of Eritrea have and remain committed to constructive engagement with the people and government of South Sudan as the latter formulated their primary priorities and charted out a road-map for a sovereign State and as they begun the long and arduous journey to rehabilitate their country devastated by a long war and to lay the foundations for a stable and prosperous nation.

Unfortunately, the people of South Sudan have not been enabled to implement the road map they have charted out in a congenial and serene environment. As it happened, sinister machinations designed to stoke and manage the crisis have catapulted the problem to confounding regional and international forums under the mantle of “benign facilitation” instead of encouraging the people of South Sudan to resolve their own problems themselves. This misguided approach is fraught with risks of exacerbating the problem instead of preventing or containing it. It may well be designed to plunge and embroil the people of South Sudan in an endless and meaningless internal strife and conflict thereby exposing them to the plundering of their resources while stifling their developmental opportunities. The Government of Eritrea is cognizant of the dangerous consequences that this would entail. As such, it has underlined its reservations and communicated its opposition and clear stance.

On the other hand, the purveyors of lies and “crises incubation” routinely resort to manufacturing outrageous lies against Eritrea principally in order to divert attention from and conceal their subversive acts described above. To this end, they have accused the Government of Eritrea, at times, for “supporting the Republic of Sudan in the battles at Higlig” and at other times “for supporting the Yaw-Yaw”. Today they are peddling a preposterous lie accusing the Government of Eritrea “for supporting Machar”. No one is surprised by this outrageous lie. 

The Government of Eritrea again stresses that it will not be drawn into this cheap gimmick whose primary sources and ulterior objectives it knows only too well. But it calls on all pretentious “benefactors” who shed crocodile tears while profiting from the internecine killings, displacement and plight of the people of South Sudan to take their hands off and allow the people of South Sudan to resolve their own problems and lay the foundations for building their nation and governmental institutions.