The riots, which turned violent, continued in the center of Bergen on Saturday until ten in the evening.
Heavily armed police tried to restrain opponents and supporters of Eritrea’s authoritarian regime in Bergen, Norway on Saturday, according to Norway’s largest newspaper Verdens Gang, or VG.
The demonstrations turned into violent clashes at Kong Oscars gate in central Bergen. A police helicopter flew over the city during the riots, which lasted more than six hours.
The police announced that the situation was under control on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. However, the riots started again in the evening, when there were approximately 200 protesters in the center. The situation calmed down only at ten in the evening.
Police arrested one protester accused of violence against the police. In addition, several people were arrested.
Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre condemned the violent riots.
“It is completely unacceptable to use violence, violent clashes and attacks on the police in Norway,” he told VG.
Eritrea is, according to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, one of the most tightly run authoritarian states in the world. It has even been compared to North Korea.
Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia in 1993, before which the two countries had drifted into a military conflict. Eritrea is located on the coast of the Red Sea and its location prevents Ethiopia from accessing the coast.
Eritrea has been led by a president for 30 years Isaias Afewerkiand not a single election has been held in the country since the country’s independence.
Eritrean internal conflicts have recently been seen elsewhere as well.
More than a hundred people were injured in the violent clashes in Tel Aviv, Israel over the weekend between supporters of the Eritrean government celebrating the Eritrea Day event and opponents of President Afewerki.
Opponents and supporters of the country’s authoritarian regime also clashed at the beginning of August in Stockholm’s Järvafältet. In the clash in Stockholm, fifty people were injured and about a hundred were arrested.