Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist July 2018 | Page 50

Eritrea's Foreign Minister Osman Sale, center right, is welcomed by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, center left, upon the Eritrean delegation's arrival at
the airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, June 26, 2018. The delegation of top offi cials from Eritrea arrived Tuesday in Ethiopia for the fi rst peace talks in 20
years and were welcomed at the airport by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, signifying the importance of their visit.
EXAMINING RECENT
DEVELOPMENTS TOWARD
PEACE BETWEEN ERITREA
AND ETHIOPIA
BY DR. FIKREJESUS AMAHAZION*
V
ictor Hugo, a poet, novelist, and dramatist who was
among the most important of the French Romantic
writers, put it well when he noted, “Nothing is more
powerful than an idea whose time has come.” In Eritrea and
Ethiopia, two low-income, developing countries located
within the Horn of Africa and which for decades have been
plagued by confl ict and tension, the idea of peace appears
to be quickly taking over. Specifi cally, over the past several
weeks, there has been a rapid rapprochement between the two
countries. The series of quick and momentous developments
hold the potential to have a signifi cant and positive impact
within both countries and throughout the broader region.
Background
Shortly after Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia
– de facto in 1991, and de jure two years later – the countries
fought a devastating two-year war lasting from May 1998
until June 2000. The conflict, frequently likened to the
50 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 7 • July 2018, Noida