A video claiming that Yemane Gebremeskel is the Foreign Minister of Eritrea was published on YouTube on June 9, 2022. The video explains that while Ethiopia’s relations with the United States have recently improved, Eritrea’s on the contrary worsened.
It is stated in the video that Eritrean Foreign Minister Yemane Gebremeskel and the US embassy in Asmara have been quarreling over political, international, and religious issues signaling the deterioration of the relationship between the two countries.
HaqCheck, however, confirmed that Yemane Gebremeskel is Eritrea’s Minister of Information, not the Foreign Minister.
The US relations with Eritrea and Ethiopia worsened since the outbreak of the war in Tigray in November 2020. US-Ethiopia relations began to deteriorate in 2020 when the US halted financial assistance to Ethiopia over the first filling of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The US government has accused the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments of human rights abuses during the armed conflict with Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The Biden administration repeatedly called for the withdrawal of the Eritrean army from Ethiopia and later sanctioned Eritrea and the Eritrean army chief.
Eritrea in its part accused the American government of destabilizing the region by supporting TPLF.
Yemane Gebremeskel an Eritrean senior government official who is active on social media has been accusing and blaming the US for supporting the TPLF and destabilizing the Horn of Africa region on his verified Twitter account.
The American Embassy in Asmara, Eritrea, on its verified Facebook page, also accused the Eritrean government of human rights abuses in Ethiopia’s Tigray regional state and inside Eritrea. The page of the embassy also blamed Yemane Gebremeskel for fabricating disinformation on social media platforms.
However, Yemane Gebremeskel is Eritrea’s Information Minister. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Eritrea is named Osman Salih and is usually accompanied by Presidential advisor Yemane Gebreab during his official visits outside Eritrea.
Yemane was appointed Information Minister in 2015 after the former Minister Ali Abdu defected. Previously, he was chief of staff of the Office of the Eritrean President.
Thus, HaqCheck confirmed that Yemane Gebremeskel is not Eritrea’s Foreign Minister and debunked the claim rating it FALSE.
