Tag: eritrea
Ethiopia and Eritrea Declare an End to Their War
Ethiopia and Eritrea on Monday formally declared an end to their “state of war,” a two-decade-long standoff that followed a brutal war over their shared border.
The official end of hostilities is expected to bring some stability to a part of the world better known for its enduring conflicts, and to a region that abuts one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world even as war rages on in Yemen, just across the Red Sea.
The announcement came after Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, visited Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, on Sunday, where he embraced President Isaias Afwerki on an airport tarmac. The leaders said the countries would resume trade, economic and diplomatic ties, including reopening embassies and restarting flights.
“The state of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea has come to an end,” the leaders said in a joint declaration. “A new era of peace and friendship has been opened.”
More than 80,000 people had died in the war.
Later on Monday, Ethiopia asked the visiting secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, to lift sanctions against Eritrea, Mr. Abiy’s chief of staff said in a message on Twitter. The United Nations had imposed an arms embargo and a partial travel ban on Eritrea, citing its disputes with neighboring countries.
Mr. Guterres told reporters on Monday that the sanctions might “become obsolete.”
Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in the early 1990s but has not recorded the same growth as its neighbor, sinking into economic and social isolation. Ethiopia, landlocked since the secession, has a strategic interest in a critical Eritrean port, Assab.
A border war broke out between the countries in the late 1990s, and since then, they have been locked in an unyielding animus.
Eritrean dissidents have accused the government of using the war to justify endless military service that has been behind the exodus of young Eritreans in recent years. Eritreans were among the largest group of people landing on Mediterranean shores during the height of Europe’s migration crisis.