31 December 2025

Well Wishes for a Happy New Year 2026

Ambassador Andebrhan Welde Giorgis

On the eve of the New Year whence 2025 gives way to 2026, I extend the entire people of Eritrea my well wishes for a very happy New Year  that ushers in a new era of freedom, justice, prosperity and peace. 

It is my fervent hope and heartfelt wish that 2026 be a year of transformation for our beloved country: a year in which the rule of law prevails; where the three branches of a normal functional government - legislative, executive, and judiciary - are firmly established; where transparent and accountable democratic governance takes root; where political and economic freedoms flourish, unleashing the creative potential and entrepreneurial talent of the Eritrean people; and where the country’s natural resources and endowments - especially mining revenues and revived port services - are harnessed for accelerated economic development and improvement of the living standards of the people.

I reiterate my fervent wish that the era of political stagnation, economic decline, social disintegration, widespread poverty, and mass exodus comes to an end, heralding a new era of political renewal, economic progress, social rehabilitation, cultural revival, peace, and stability. I wish Eritrea becomes a country to which its people return rather than flee from, and where they live in freedom and dignity.

I extend my salutations on being set free to those citizens who have recently been released and congratulate their families. I hope that the process of release continues in 2026 and that all political and conscientious prisoners; journalists as well as ordinary citizens who have been languishing in prisons for decades without charge or trial; will be freed, ushering in an era of freedom, justice, and prosperity.

To struggle for the establishment of the rule of law, justice, and respect for human rights; the institution of transparent and accountable system of public administration; and the implementation of economic policies that develop the country and improve the livelihood of the people in our beloved country is to consciously shoulder one’s sacred national duty. To fight to bring about a democratic Eritrea where freedom, justice, prosperity, and peace prevail is to fulfil the patriotic obligation of a conscious and conscientious citizenship.

It is a national duty to fight for the introduction of an advanced education system in Eritrea that equips the youth with modern science and technology and promotes economic development that creates employment opportunities commensurate with their technical skills and professional expertise to enable them to live in their own country. It is also a national duty to fight to bring about economic freedom that allows Eritrean entrepreneurs, including the PFDJ parastatals, to invest their capital and entrepreneurial skills in their country to create wealth and employment and contribute to national development. 

In the same vein, given the extremely dangerous geopolitical situation in the Horn of Africa that threatens Eritrea’s sovereign independence and territorial integrity, every Eritrean must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his/her people and country. We must firmly challenge the expansionist ambitions, fabricated narratives, and annexationist designs of Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party regime.

Eritrea’s sovereign independence is the outcome of the total military victory of our people’s armed struggle; it was not achieved through the charity or favour any power. It is the noble gift of the blood and bones of our heroic martyrs realised through the hard struggle and huge sacrifices of successive generations of Eritreans. No false propaganda or fabricated narrative driven by expansionist ambitions can undermine this living truth.

The world’s prevailing geopolitical reality is a living testimony that at a time when there exists no higher global authority that enforces the rule of law in an anarchic international system, the survival and interests of a country ultimately depend on its own capacity for self-reliance. Political alliances and military pacts may provide beneficial contributions. In the final analysis, however, it is a nation’s self-reliant defence capability that determines its continued existence or non-existence. 

Eritrea can thus guarantee its continued existence and national interests by building a credible self-defence capability, catering to the needs and aspirations of the Eritrean people, and ensuring their unity in diversity.

This requires the establishment of a constitutional government that guarantees the fundamental freedoms and rights of the people through the institution of the rule of law, consolidates the unity of the people, and institutes transparent and accountable rational management of public finance manifest in a published annual budget that discloses revenues and expenditures. Moreover, it requires ensuring the efficient provision of and equitable access to basic needs and essential social services based on meritocracy in all aspects of public administration and civil service that promotes economic development, expands public facilities and social services, and enhances the people’s standard of living. 

Furthermore, building a credible national defence capability requires encouraging domestic and foreign investment through the institution of a legal framework and the construction of efficient physical and social infrastructure; establishing efficient public enterprises with competent management; and building a robust national economy that promotes strong partnership and effective cooperation between the public and private sectors.

In addition, it requires the establishment and expansion of a state of the art higher education and technical institutes capable of producing the knowledge and skills necessary to develop a modern economy driven by high technology sectors. 

It is imperative to rehabilitate the hollowed countryside, reverse the ongoing demographic decline, and grow the population depleted by mass exodus to safeguard sovereignty and national security by establishing a constitutional, democratic government with enlightened and capable leadership that prioritises the national interest. 

As the guarantor of sovereignty and national security, it is essential to professionalise the Eritrean Defence Forces (the army, the air force and the navy), modernise their command-and-control structures, and equip them with advanced modern weapons and military science.  

Once again, I wish the entire Eritrean people a happy New Year 2026.

Long live independent sovereign Eritrea!

Eternal glory to our heroic martyrs!

May the Creator bless Eritrea and its people!
 

_{A note of thanks to Saleh Younus for posting the machine translated human-reviewed version that contributed to the translation of the message.}