Ethiopia and Eritrea restore diplomatic ties

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Horn of Africa nations Ethiopia and Eritrea have reached an accord after a historic summit aimed at ending decades of diplomatic and armed strife.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his country will normalize relations with its neighbor following a meeting with President Isaias Afwerki in Asmara on Sunday.

"We agreed that the airlines will start operating, the ports will be accessible, people can move between the two countries and the embassies will be opened," Abiy said.

"We will demolish the wall and, with love, build a bridge between the two countries."

The announcement capped weeks of whirlwind change, driven by Abiy, culminating in his visit to the Eritrean capital for face-to-face talks with Isaias.

Ethiopian and Eritrean athletes in conversation on the eve of the Confederation of African Athletics senior championships at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, June 21, 2016. /VCG Photo

The sudden rapprochement will spell an end to a years-long cold war that has hurt both countries.

The two nations have remained at loggerheads since Ethiopia rejected a United Nations ruling and refused to cede to Eritrea land along the countries' border following a 1998-2000 war that killed 80,000 people.

There was no sign of that animosity on Sunday.

Abiy stepped from an Ethiopian Airlines plane at the airport in Asmara to be greeted by Isaias, the two men embracing before they strode off along a red carpet.

Crowds lined the streets of the Eritrean capital cheering on the leaders' convoy, waving the twinned flags of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Ethiopia's long-distance athlete, three-time Olympic Champion and 5000m world record holder, Tirunesh Dibaba (R) speaks with her husband and Ethiopia's former long-distance runner Sileshi Sihine as they await the arrival of the Eritrean delegation for peace talks with Ethiopia at the international airport in Addis Ababa, June 26, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

'A spectacular opportunity'

With Abiy's comments later in the day, the meeting appeared to have achieved its touted aim of seizing "a spectacular opportunity to decidedly move forward peace for the good of our people," as Abiy's chief of staff Fitsum Arega put it earlier.

Eritrea's information minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, later tweeted a photo of the two leaders huddled in discussion, promising the meeting would, "set the tone for rapid, positive changes on the basis of respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The re-establishment of diplomatic and trade ties after years of bitter separation could mean big benefits for both nations, and the wider Horn of Africa region, plagued by conflict and poverty.

Patrons at a bar in Badme, a disputed town on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. /VCG File Photo

Once a province of Ethiopia that comprised its entire coastline on the Red Sea, Eritrea voted to leave in 1993 after a decades-long independence struggle.

The break rendered Ethiopia landlocked, and the deterioration of relations due to the continuing cold war forced Ethiopia to rely on Djibouti for its sea trade.

Ethiopian access to Eritrea's ports will be an economic boon for both, as well as posing a challenge to the increasing dominance of Djibouti which had benefited from importing and exporting the vast majority of goods to Africa's second-most populous country.

Free movement across the border will also unite, once again, two peoples closely linked by history, language and ethnicity.

(Cover: Eritrea's Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed (R, front) chatting with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as an Eritrean delegation for peace talks with Ethiopia arrived at the international airport in Addis Ababa on June 26, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP