Seems like the end of an era in the relation between Ethiopia and Eritrea is unfolding. Eritrea is sending high level delegation to “chart out and plan” next step.
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Source : Eritrea MOI
borkena
June 20,2018
Eritrea is breaking its silence as it is responding to the call for peace from Ethiopia. President Isayas Afeworki announced today that his country will send high level delegation to Ethiopia to meet with the new administration.
The president disclosed the plan during televised Martyrs day speech which commemorates fallen Eritrean People’s Liberation Front combatants during the thirty years of guerrilla warfare.
The purpose of the delegation is, according to Reuters, to hold talks regarding the conflict and figure out as to where the new Ethiopian Prime minister stands in relation to issues that stand between building peace between the two countries and identity plan for the next step.
Eritrean Ambassador to Japan Estifanos tweeted “President ISAIAS announced tdy that #Eritrea shall dispatch delegation to Addis Abeba to a constructive engagement with #Ethiopia #BBC #CNN”
President ISAIAS announced tdy that #Eritrea shall dispatch delegation to Addis Abeba to a constructive engagement with #Ethiopia #BBC #CNN
— Ambassador Estifanos (@AmbassadorEstif) June 20, 2018
It is not clear how soon the Eritrean delegation is arriving to Ethiopia for the talk. If it happens, it will undoubtedly represent a breakthrough in the relations between the two countries and will have the potential to transform the two counties politically,socially and economically and contribute for peace in the region.
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“Ethiopia is now at a turning point or transition. What is the destination? How will this be achieved? These are timely questions that must be raised. But although it will require time and efforts to remove the TPLF’s toxic and malignant legacy and to bring about a congenial climate, the positive direction that has been set in motion is crystal clear” President Isayas is cited as saying.
The president added :
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“Needless to stress, it is the Ethiopian people – forced as they were into adversarial ties of vertical polarization – who were the primary victims, and who have borne the main brunt, of the destructive policies of the TPLF regime and its paymasters.”
For the Eritrean president, the proposed concession emanates from the aspirations of people in both countries to establish peace and harmony.
Former United States Assistant secretary of State, Herman Cohen, was accusing for not responding to Ethiopia’s offer when he tweeted “…#Eritrea needs to learn how to take “yes” for an answer.”
#Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is going from strength to strength as he pushes his country toward true democracy. He should be encouraged as much as possible by the international community. #Eritrea needs to learn how to take "yes" for an answer.
— Herman J. Cohen (@CohenOnAfrica) June 19, 2018
It was last month that the executive committee of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) announced decision to fully accept and implement the December 2000 Algiers agreement which ended the deadly war between the two countries which claimed more than 80 thousand people on both sides.
There have been opposition rally in Tigray against the decision to fully accept the Algiers agreement. While being a party to the body that passed the decision, Tigray Peoples Liberation Front issued a statement last week condemning the ruling coalition for publicizing the decision “before it is discussed with the public.”
In what seem to be a response to it, Abiy Ahmed pointed out during his appearance in the parliament on Monday that the Algeris peace agreement was signed by his predecessor and the there was no public consultation about it.
Mentioning his own experience as a soldier during the two years war between 1998 and 2000 and his first hand knowledge of suffering of people in the region, Abiy Ahmed underlined that restoring peace and normalcy is in the interests of both countries.
Implementing the Algeris peace agreement which inevitably gives the Badme town, which allegedly sparked the war, to Eritrea is not without problems. Members of ethnic Irob, constitute minority in northern Tigray, will find themselves in two countries and they are opposing that.
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