Global Policy Forum

Finns Are Now Keeping the Peace in Quiet Eritrea

By Erkki Vettenniemi

The road that leads from the airport of Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, to the city centre has been closed to traffic. The closed section of the road is located in front of the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping forces. In addition to guards, the headquarters are protected by huge bags of sand. Could this be related to a terrorist attack, or the threat of one? "Oh no, I think a car just nudged a bike rider", explains Major Marko Lahtinen.

In this particular city, a bicyclist knocked over by a car is a major incident. There are worse places in the world for peacekeepers. Asmara is the most peaceful capital in Africa, the home to half a million people that has succeeded in keeping its small-town feel throughout its 100-year history. Marko Lahtinen is the camp commander of the Finnish peacekeeping company that has just arrived in Eritrea. The Finns will take over from the Irish, and after the advance group that will investigate the situation in Asmara, the rest of the men will arrive next week.

A border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea claimed tens of thousands of lives in 1998-2000. The war ended after UN troops intervened. During the final stages of the war, Ethiopian troops had marched deep into Eritrea, and the peacekeepers now patrol an area 25 kilometres deep on the Eritrean side, between two armies. The Finnish company of two hundred peacekeepers will settle in Asmara. Their camp is along the road to the airport, even though the village of barracks behind barbed wire does not quite get along with the city's only luxury hotel, which is located nearby. "The company has a six-month contract, and after that new men will arrive from Finland for the next six months", Lahtinen explains the system. A part of the peacekeepers already have experience from Kosovo, only few have been in Africa before. Sergeant Teemu Alaviitala compares his experiences after the first couple of days in Eritrea. "We immediately noticed what a civilized city Asmara is. Compared to Kosovo, this assignment is a holiday", Alaviitala maintains.

The original mandate of the UN troops has been extended repeatedly, as work on marking the actual border between Ethiopia and Eritrea has not even begun yet. The decision of the Boundary Commission came over one year ago, but Ethiopia was not satisfied with the proposal. The disagreement over the village of Badme, which triggered the entire war, is still unresolved. Ethiopia controls the barren region surrounding Badme, even though the Boundary Commission promised it to Eritrea. Previously, there has been a handful of Finns at the border as observers. Even before then, the Eritrean airforce had Finnish trainers. They cannot be blamed for the fact that at the very beginning of the border conflict, the Eritrean airforce conducted its most famous raid, destroying an Ethiopian school and all its students. Ethiopia had struck the Asmara airport earlier on the same day. After that, the war has not disturbed the peace of Asmara. The security of Asmara is dictated from the top. The country is led by an authoritarian government, no opposition is allowed, and the streets grow quiet in the early evenings.

In addition to the security of their own camp, the Finns are responsible for the security of the peacekeepers' headquarters and the officers' camp. "We have definitely been wondering what the dangers are that we are guarding against", Teemu Alaviitala remarks, maybe half seriously. Many of the locals are also a bit confused about the role of the UN. The Eritreans expect the Ethiopians to withdraw from the areas that the Boundary Commission designated for Eritrea. But months are changing into years without a credible peace to follow the war. How long will it be viable for the four-thousand strong UN troops to remain in the area if the border issue does not progress? "The UN is such a slow organisation that it will take at least an earthquake for it to withdraw from here", suspects Thomas Heskin, the head of the Irish company that will leave the country within the next few days. Heskin is pleased that the Finns took over the camp of the Irish. He begins a short lecture on Irish history, and seeks similarities with Finland. Perhaps the peripheral location of the two countries has made Ireland and Finland more active regarding conflicts such as the one in Eritrea, Heskin ponders. "Our drinking habits are similar too, aren't they?"

The Finnish peacekeepers in Eritrea will most likely face the largest risks during their free time. As a matter of fact, the Irish already gained a somewhat immoral reputation. Asmara is a community of traditional values that had not seen many white faces before the UN arrived. The scorching sun of the highlands is also a threat. Asmara is located at over two thousand metres above sea level, and the gap between the Finnish spring and the sun of Eritrea is considerable. "My neck and nose burned on the very first days", reports Lahtinen. If sunscreens are not forgotten and the example of the Irish is not followed in free time, the stay of the Finns in Asmara may well turn out to be very pleasant. They have even selected a site for a sauna already.

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