Eritrea: Security AssistanceBureau of Political-Military Affairs
Washington, DC
July 16, 2008
Background: Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in December 2000. Eritrea currently hosts a UN peacekeeping operation that is monitoring a 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) on the border with Ethiopia. An international commission, organized to resolve the border dispute, posted its findings in 2002. However, both parties have been unable to reach agreement on implementing the decision. On 30 November 2007, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission remotely demarcated the border by coordinates and dissolved itself, leaving Ethiopia still occupying several tracts of disputed territory, including the town of Badme. Eritrea accepted the EEBC's "virtual demarcation" decision and called on Ethiopia to remove its troops from the TSZ which it states is Eritrean territory. Ethiopia has not accepted the virtual demarcation decision. (Source: CIA—The World Factbook)
Security Assistance Funding: (Source: 2009 Congressional Budget Justifications for Foreign Operations)
Eritrea has not been designated for Security Assistance Funding in FY 2008.
Direct Commercial Sales: (Source: 2007 Section 655 Report)
In FY 2007, the Department of State authorized no exports of defense articles or services to Eritrea.
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