Mussie Habte (PhD)

@martinplaut Welcome to the reality of Western foreign policy: human rights are not a standard, but a tool - brought out when it suits the situation and discarded when it becomes inconvenient. You should really know that.

Why the West is cosying up to Eritrea despite its human rights abuses martinplaut.com/2026/04/29/why…

@KenRoth @martinplaut Why don’t you just put on a different tape? North Korea blah blah. Of course, now you’re afraid that your narrative will collapse like a house of card

Eritrea is as brutally repressive as ever -- it is compared to North Korea at home, it slaughters ethnic Tigrayans in Ethiopia -- but Trump ignores all that and plans to lift sanctions for geopolitical reasons. trib.al/hwX0r29

@Habtishgreat What’s going on with Lake Tana, anyway? And what about your navy. Are they still training there? It’s bitter, I know. But keep your head up. You’ll get used to it.

🇪🇷 New Development:- Isaias Afwerki Escaped Another Coup. In early April 2026, Eritrea was shaken by a dramatic failed coup attempt orchestrated by senior military officials within the regime itself. Multiple high-ranking generals, disillusioned with the prolonged leadership of President Isaias Afwerki and the ongoing strains of indefinite national service and economic hardship, reportedly coordinated an effort to challenge the established power structure in Asmara. The plot unfolded swiftly in the first days of the month, with elements of the military attempting to seize key government installations and broadcast calls for reform. Loyalist forces quickly suppressed the uprising, preventing it from gaining broader momentum. In the immediate aftermath, authorities launched a sweeping crackdown. Several generals and their alleged co-conspirators were arrested and subjected to rapid prosecution in closed military tribunals. Charges ranged from treason and incitement to mutiny, with reports indicating that the proceedings emphasized the need to preserve national unity amid external pressures. The prosecutions sent ripples through the armed forces, leading to heightened security measures, purges of suspected sympathizers, and a renewed emphasis on loyalty oaths. Observers noted that the episode exposed underlying fractures within the military hierarchy, even as the regime moved to project strength and control. State media framed the events as the defeat of internal betrayal influenced by external agitators, while the swift judicial response aimed to deter any further dissent. By mid-April, the situation appeared stabilized on the surface, though the failed coup and subsequent trials left the Eritrean regime visibly strained. The episode highlighted persistent internal tensions, even as the country continued to navigate complex regional dynamics with neighbors like Ethiopia. The full extent of the fallout, including any long-term weakening of command structures, remained a subject of cautious discussion among regional analysts in the weeks that followed.

@Habtishgreat Poor Habtish. All year long he roared like a lion for access to the sea. Once it became clear that this was futile, he is now trying an old trick. One can really feel sorry for Ethiopia. Habtisch is probably the last resort.

@_hudsonc You should really know best that U.S. policy primarily pursues its own interests. I thought you were an expert! Your naive questions and conclusions are disappoint me. For K. Tronvoll or M. Plaut are this news a shock. For them, a whole world unfortunately collapses.

🚨 As I have been predicting for weeks, Washington has jumped into the hornets nest of Red Sea politics, holding secret meetings with Isaias in Cairo in a bid to increase its influence in the region by lifting sanctions on Eritrea. What will Eritrea do in return? How will Addis react? What does this mean for Trump's promise to restart GERD talks? How will this a US-Eritrea rapprochement affect the SAF and Sudan's war? And what will UAE and Saudi make of the US effort to enter Red Sea political debates, seemingly aligning itself against Ethiopia? Too many questions to answer. But what I can say is that the US is doing it all without a strategy with a used truck salesman at the helm. What could possibly go wrong?? wsj.com/world/africa/u…

Bei Friedrich Merz gibt es eine Kontinuität: Er war bereits in seiner ersten Zeit als aktiver Politiker Anfang der 2000er Jahre einer der unbeliebtesten Politiker in der BRD. Daran scheint sich nichts geändert zu haben. Jetzt ist er der unbeliebtste Regierungschef der Welt. TOP!

@_hudsonc @SirakBahlbi No one can really get around Eritrea. Eritrea has been and continues to be a key factor in the Horn of Africa. Any attempt to isolate Eritrea or ignore it ultimately backfires. Politics would be well advised to listen less to so-called “experts.”

"The EU is beginning to treat Eritrea not merely as a political outlier, but as a relevant actor in one of the world’s most sensitive maritime theaters." I predict that the Trump Administration will soon follow the EU lead in Eritrea... mesobjournal.com/post/why-eritr…

Die Provinzialisierung und außenpolitische Bedeutungslosigkeit Europas schreiten unaufhaltsam voran. Keine Position, keine Haltung, keine strategische Linie – nur noch Selbstverzwergung auf der weltpolitischen Bühne. Aber bei dem Personal ist es nicht verwunderlich.

Und wer hat den Frieden vermittelt? Pakistan - ein Land des globalen Südens. Und Europa? Völlig irrelevant. So manövriert man sich außenpolitisch selbst ins Abseits. Glückwunsch, Herr Merz, Herr Macron und Herr Starmer.

@umutcagrisariii @shaebiaeritrea2 This is embarrassing. Can Ethiopian politics under Abiy still be taken seriously? The answer is: no. Once again, Ethiopia must slowly be brought back from a fantasy world to reality. Ethiopia is a landlocked country and will remain so forever.

Ethiopia, country without a coastline, decides to host a high-level discussion on Red Sea affairs. Slogan? “Inclusive maritime governance.” Whats the reality? Most of the actual Red Sea stakeholders didn’t make the guest list. No Eritrea, no Djibouti, no Saudi Arabia, no Egypt, no Yemen, no Sudan, no Somalia. So what you get isn’t really a maritime forum it’s more like a policy roundtable about the sea, held far from any shore, where the concept matters more than the reality.

Detschland gegen Ghana: Der Moderator ist ja unterirdisch. Hat einen stark eingeschränkten Wortschatz. Das Wort "wild" nutzt er inflationär gegenüber dem Spiel von Ghana.

Einfach nur sprachlos. Europa und die westliche Welt verlieren derzeit zunehmend an Glaubwürdigkeit und Vertrauen. Die Doppelmoral erreicht leider einen neuen Tiefpunkt.

Ich bin einfach sprachlos. Diese Doppelmoral ist an Heuchelei kaum noch zu überbieten.

I’m simply speechless. This hypocrisy has reached a new low.

That’s also called hypocrisy!

Self-declared champions of human rights abstaining and voting against this Resolution!

Bundespräsident Dr. Steinmeier sagt: Der Irankrieg ist natürlich völkerrechtswidrig. Der Bundeskanzler sagt: Moment, wir prüfen das noch ganz sorgfältig juristisch. Übersetzung: Vielleicht ist der Krieg ja vorbei, bevor wir zu einem Ergebnis kommen. Effizient gelöst. 🙃

@natzem Happy Birthday!

It's my birthday! 🎉 So grateful for every moment since that blessed day I was born. Thankful to God for keeping me, and excited for bright, blessed years ahead! Cheers to life!

Despotische Macht in den Händen skrupelloser Politiker ist kein abstraktes Risiko, sondern eine reale, zerstörerische Gefahr. Wo Kontrolle fehlt, wächst Willkür. Wo Kritik unterdrückt wird, gedeiht Missbrauch. Und wo Macht sich selbst genügt, wird sie maßlos.

Die USA hatten viele Präsidenten, bei denen der Revolver immer locker war, aber Trump ist ein besonderer Präsident. Weil Europa "noch" nicht in den Krieg ziehen möchte, beklagt er fehlenden Enthusiasmus. Wie lange Europa dieser Haltung standhält, wird sich zeigen.