Ethiopia and Eritrea to re-open embassies in each other’s capitals | Africa

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed welcomed with the banner saying “Welcome Dear Brother Abiy Ahmed” | Image: Jowhar

Ethiopia and Eritrea have agreed to re-open embassies in each other’s capitals, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Sunday after a day of talks with Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki.

“After the discussion, we have agreed to reopen our embassies,” Abiy said in remarks broadcast on the state television channels of both nations. Both channels aired footage of the two leaders at a state dinner hosted by Isaias in which the two leaders were seen speaking to each other in the Tigrinya language.

The meeting was the first of its kind in two decades between the leaders of the two neighbours and bitter rivals in the Horn of Africa.

Conflict

Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a lengthy conflict. But within five years the neighbours were fighting over remote border areas, including the town of Badme.

Tens of thousands of people were killed in two years of fighting. The land was awarded to Eritrea by a 2002 border commission ruling, but Ethiopia refused to accept it and retained its troops there. The two sides have remained on a war footing since then.

In a further sign of warming ties, direct international phone calls have been restored between the two countries for the first time in more than 20 years, the Ethiopian prime minister’s office said.

Source: Reuters

Akshat Verma
The Kootneeti Africa Team