Eritrean president says rival Ethiopia ‘views war as only resort’
ASMARA, May 24 (AFP) — Eritrea’s president said Tuesday that Ethiopia sees war as the only way to overcome festering border tensions between the rival Horn of Africa nations but stressed his country was prepared for conflict.
As Eritreans celebrated the 14th anniversary of independence from their southern neighbor, President Isaias Afwerki said in a speech that the Ethiopian government “views war as the only resort” to resolve the matter.
He told a huge crowd at Asmara Stadium that Eritrea would continue to push the United Nations to pressure Ethiopia to abide by a 2002 border delineation by an independent panel but would also remain ready for any eventuality.
Eritrea “will not cease to call upon the (UN) Security Council to take action,” Isaias said.
“At the same time, we have no apprehension in confronting what may unfold bearing in mind that the Security Council is responsible for all consequences,” he said.
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bitter border war from 1998 to 2000 that ended with a peace deal in which both agreed to respect the findings of an inpendepent panel.
Two years later, the commission made its ruling but Addis Ababa has thus far refused to accept it, although in November it said it agreed in principle but wanted some adjustments.
Eritrea, meanwhile, insists it will only accept full implementation of the commission ruling and three years later, demarcation has still not begun to the growing concern of the international community.
United Nations peacekeepers are stationed in a buffer corridor that hugs the length of the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) border between the two states and in March, the UN envoy for Ethiopia and Eritrea warned that the world must “act fast” to defuse the growing tension or face the risk of a new war.
Asmara regularly blames the international community for not putting enough pressure on Ethiopia to accept the ruling.
On Tuesday, Isaias said “the principal architect of this obstruction of law is the United States of America.”
Ethiopia is a key ally of the United States in the Horn of Africa.