Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ASMARA396
2007-04-25 12:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Asmara
Cable title:  

EUROPEAN COMMISSION MAKING NICE WITH ERITREA: AT

Tags:  PREL PINR ER 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6343
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHAE #0396/01 1151209
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 251209Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASMARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8835
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 6085
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1344
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1521
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1743
RUEPADJ/CJTF-HOA J2X CAMP LEMONIER DJ
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0006
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0634
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASMARA 000396 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2017
TAGS: PREL PINR ER
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN COMMISSION MAKING NICE WITH ERITREA: AT
WHAT COST, TO WHAT END?

REF: ASMARA 346

ASMARA 00000396 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: AMB Scott H. DeLisi, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASMARA 000396

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2017
TAGS: PREL PINR ER
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN COMMISSION MAKING NICE WITH ERITREA: AT
WHAT COST, TO WHAT END?

REF: ASMARA 346

ASMARA 00000396 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: AMB Scott H. DeLisi, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: More than 240 million euros for Eritrea hang
in the balance as the European Commission(EC) seemingly
cozies up to the Government of the State of Eritrea(GSE) and
ignores its own basic principles and beliefs. Despite the
displeasure and frustration of member states in Asmara, the
European Commission continues to accommodate the GSE,
avoiding discussions of human rights, civil liberties and
economic freedoms, in order to be perceived as the GSE's
constructive and flexible partner. The EC has invited
President Isaias to visit Brussels in early May and the GSE
plans to re-open its office there this spring. Unless it is
prepared to tackle the tough issues, including Somalia, with
the GSE, the EC risks sending the Eritreans signals that
undercut efforts by those -- including the USG -- interested
in addressing regional stability and human rights issues.
End Summary.

-------------- --------------
THE EC AND MEMBER STATES SUBJECT TO SAME SHABBY TREATMENT
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Over the past year, GSE restrictions affecting U.S.
Embassy operations have been similarly applied (although to a
lesser degree) to other international Missions, including the
EC and its member states. The GSE requires international
staff of the EC to seek travel permits to leave Asmara and
often denies them travel. Access to ministry employees has
been limited, and EC staff complain regularly about the lack
of response to requests and inquiries and the unwillingness
of the GSE to engage in substantive discussions. EC member
states also experience to varying degrees the same challenges
we face, including GSE refusals of travel requests,
difficulties in getting visas for official visitors to travel
to Asmara and detention of diplomatic pouches.

--------------
MISAPPROPRIATING FOOD AID? NOT A PROBLEM.
--------------


3. (C) In spring 2006, the GSE confiscated approximately
77,000 metric tons(MT) of humanitarian food aid, in support
of a new, proposed Cash-for-Work scheme. The EC, who had

donated 20,000 MT of this food, claimed at the time it would
join the U.S. and the World Food Program(WFP) in demanding
the GSE either account for the seized food or provide
restitution. However, by the October visit of Roger Moore,
the Director for Eastern and Southern Africa at the EC's
Directorate General for Development, the EC had clearly
undergone a change of heart, pulling away quickly from its
initial hard stance. Moore said the EC would forgive the
GSE's actions as the distribution of humanitarian food aid
under a Cash-for-Work program was not inconsistent with EC
regulations, and the EC would consider providing more food
assistance in the future for distribution under the GSE's
Cash-for-Work program. However, for the EC to write off the
seized food, the GSE would need to provide the EC with an
accounting of the food aid's disposition along with a more
detailed description of the Cash-for-Work program. To date,
and not unsurprisingly, the GSE has not provided this
information. (Comment: Most likely, the GSE has not provided
this information because it is not there to provide. By all
observations, the Cash-for-Work program was mostly
theoretical and most seized food aid was not actually
distributed under this type of program. End Comment.) Over
the past year, the EC routinely set stern deadlines for the
GSE to provide the information, looked the other way when the
deadline came, and granted the GSE extension after extension
with no repercussions. (Comment: For the diplomatic
community in Eritrea, it has become nearly a joke, when
another deadline passes and the EC extends the due date. End
Comment.)

--------------

ASMARA 00000396 002.2 OF 003


HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS? NOT THE RIGHT TIME.
--------------


4. (C) Despite EC proclamations about human rights, EC
Commissioner Louis Michel's February 2007 visit to Asmara
showed a clear abdication of these principles. Michel came
to meet with GSE officials, including President Isaias as he
had not yet traveled to Eritrea and had made several trips to
Ethiopia. At a press conference during his visit, the local
Reuters reporter asked Michel about the EC's position on the
GSE's human rights abuses. In a response that dismayed the
representatives from member states present in the room,
Michel stated, "now is not the time to talk about human
rights" and dismissed the line of questioning.

--------------
CONTRACTUAL IRREGULARITIES? NOT AN ISSUE.
--------------


5. (C) The EC continues to energetically pursue the GSE to
accept their development assistance through infrastructure
projects. The projects are undeniably of value to Eritrea's
development, however, in implementation the EC appears to be
stretching its own rules. For construction projects, the EC
is forced to fund GSE-issued contracts solely with
government-owned companies, as all functioning companies are
either owned by the GSE directly or by the sole political
party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) )
whose chairman is President Isaias. This is the only option
since virtually no private sector exists in Eritrea. (Note:
The construction industry was particularly hard hit following
the GSE's September 2005 Proclamation which resulted in the
closure of all privately held construction companies and the
arrest of their directors in April 2006. As a result,
PFDJ-owned companies now do all of the construction in
Eritrea without any competition and the PFDJ's import/export
company is the sole entity permitted by the GSE to import
building supplies. End Note.) EC staff in Eritrea speculate
that the GSE shares the EC-GSE project budget and coordinates
the bidding with the PFDJ-owned companies, so the companies
do not compete against each other. Not surprisingly, the
bids by the PFDJ companies usually come in nearly exactly the
amount available for the contract. The Germans have
recognized the inherent problems in undertaking construction
projects in Eritrea, and the German Ambassador has stated
that Germany would no longer participate in the destruction
of the private sector in Eritrea by funding such assistance
projects.


6. (C) Conflict of interest problems have arisen in project
monitoring as well. The EC requires each contract be
monitored by a separate construction company, serving as the
EC's consultant. However, since all of the construction
companies are owned by the PFDJ, the consultant company is
always a sister company of the general contractor. In the
case of one EC road construction project, the consultant
company abdicated its responsibility, allowing the contractor
to use sub-standard materials. (Note: The EC staff in Asmara,
without the support of Brussels, is looking for solutions to
this conflict of interest. End note.) In addition to
overseeing the quality of the work, the consultant must also
ensure that all contract employees are paid at least minimum
wage. Most Eritreans have no idea there is an official
minimum wage, let alone know what it is. With virtually no
jobs on the economy, most unemployed Eritreans, particularly
laborers, are so thrilled for any source of income they are
often willing to take less than minimum wage, in violation of
Eritrea's own labor laws. It is also well known that the
PFDJ-owned companies are frequently provided by the GSE with
national service/military enlisted to do the work. The
individuals in national service receive wages far below the
official minimum wage, further increasing the profit margin
for the PFDJ-owned companies through the (then) inflated
labor estimates. As many of these construction projects
happen in isolated regions of the country, the company serves
as the sole provider of food and shelter to the laborers, and
are able to charge whatever "living expenses" to the

ASMARA 00000396 003.2 OF 003


employees that they wish, or require PFDJ membership as a
precursor to employment. EC staff have expressed frustration
at their inability to monitor the labor contracts to ensure
workers are receiving minimum wage.

--------------
BUT COME TO BRUSSELS AND LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
--------------


7. (C) According to EC Charge d,Affaires, C.B. Lostelius,
President Isaias will travel to Brussels on May 6 (the
original invitation was extended by Commissioner Michel
during his visit). Post has heard informally that the EC
plans to discuss not only assistance issues but also ways in
which the EC can be helpful to the GSE in facilitating their
participation with the international community in peace
initiatives in Sudan and Somalia. (Comment: The EC has hosted
several delegations to Eritrea to speak with the GSE about
its involvement in Darfur and Somalia. The delegations'
outbriefs have generally expressed a positive reaction to the
rhetoric of President Isaias, whose tailored message has
professed the GSE's desire to engage constructively in
international initiatives in the region. Post has seen no
action from the GSE that could provide the international
community, or the EC, with any positive indication that the
GSE intends to follow up on the President's assertions. Also
discussed reftel. End Comment.) The EC and the GSE have
also started discussions towards establishing formal
representation in Brussels. The current MFA Director for the
Americas Girma Asmerom (and former Ambassador to the U.S.)
has been named to serve as the Eritrean Ambassador to the EC.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) The EC -- or as some suggest, Commissioner Michel --
is increasingly assuming a position with the GSE that is
antithetical to the policies of its member states and the
U.S. The EC's courting of the GSE ignores the GSE's
worsening behavior, i.e. both the GSE's destabilizing
actions in the region, to include the provision of safehaven
and support to Somalia insurgent elements (to include now,
clear GSE fingerprints on a recent communique from Somali
dissidents in Asmara, hostile to international and TFG
reconciliation efforts) and the flagrant human rights abuses
of its own populace. The question remains, why? Certainly,
many of the member states represented in Asmara do not
believe this approach has been particularly effective with
influencing the GSE. Post speculates there are several
driving forces behind the EC's position, the foremost
probably resulting from a naive hope that, if the EC foregoes
confrontation in favor of engagement, the GSE will then be
willing to partner constructively in resolving the border
issue with Ethiopia and to talk about their human rights
issues. More prosaically, post speculates also that the
bureaucratic challenges of withdrawing money allocated to
Eritrea during the 8th and 9th European Development Fund
sessions keeps the EC pressing to spend these monies
in-country, regardless of the obstacles. Perhaps, as well,
some member states, such as France, who believe that they
have a "special relationship" with the GSE (the benefits of
which are not clearly evident to us),are being heard more
clearly in Brussels than those who are frustrated and
dismayed by GSE actions, such as the Germans, British and
Dutch. Regardless of the motivations, however, the EC's
courtship of Eritrea is positioning the EC as an unhelpful
partner for the U.S. as we address Eritrea's increasingly
destabilizing role in the region. End Comment.
DeLisi