Following a successful independence struggle and a referendum in Eritrea in 1993, Germany established bilateral relations with the country. Eritrea’s initially democratic development was halted by the Ethiopian-Eritrean border war (1998-2000). The potential for closer bilateral relations between Germany and Eritrea was not fully exploited.

Following the signing of the peace agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia in July 2018, the German Government endeavoured to intensify relations with Eritrea again. For example, Government representatives and members of the German Bundestag visited the country. This phase ended with Eritrea’s military intervention in the intra‑Ethiopian Tigray conflict and the resulting exacerbation of the internal political situation.

There is little economic exchange between Germany and Eritrea. The focus lies on visits by members of the Eritrean diaspora to Eritrea. Today, more than 80,000 Eritrean nationals and people of Eritrean descent live in Germany. There is currently no official cooperation in the fields of culture and civil society. The private Eritro-German Association is mainly run by members of the Eritrean diaspora and offers German language courses in the Eritro-German Center in Asmara, which has a German library. The Eritro-German Center is a very popular public meeting place in Asmara.

Eritrea is opposed to bilateral development cooperation due to ideological reservations. The charitable organisations Hammer Forum and ARCHEMED are, among others, examples of German civil-society organisations that have been working successfully for years with medical teams on the ground. With the help of the African Development Bank, fresh impetus is also being provided in the fields of renewable energy sources and the blue economy.