Ethiopia moves to end border dispute with Eritrea
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Nov 25, 2004 (PANA) — Prime Minister Meles Zenawi declared Thursday that Ethiopia had accepted, in principle, the decision of the neutral boundary
commission regarding the border dispute that led his
country to wage a two-year war against neighbouring
Eritrea.
Meles had denounced the decision as “manifestly unjust
and illegal” when it was announced in April 2002 by
the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission.
However, he told the House Peoples’ Representatives
Thursday that his Government’s acceptance of the decision
would help the Eritrean people to understand Ethiopia’s full
commitment to peace.
“It has thus been felt necessary and useful to adjust
and modify our position with the hope that this will
make a great contribution to making our peace agenda
more robust and effective,” said the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, Meles has put forward a five-point plan,
underlining peaceful means and immediate dialogue
between Addis Ababa and Asmara, to implement the
Boundary Commission’s decision in a manner that would
promote brotherly ties between the two countries.
The Hague-based Commision was appointed under the
auspices of the United Nations, after Ethiopia and
Eritrea signed the Algiers Agreement in December 2000
to end the war.
Under the Agreement, the Commission was charged with
delimitation and demarcation of the 1,000-km border
between Ethiopia and Eritrea, based on pertinent
colonial treaties and applicable international law.
“Peace is always the strategic goal of the Government
of Ethiopia,” Meles stated, noting that normalisation
of relations between the two countries was a matter of
their mutual interest.
“Not only has our Government made clear its
preparedness to engage the Government of Eritrea in a
dialogue, but it has also made all the necessary
efforts to make this known to the Ethiopian and the
Eritrean peoples as well as to the international
community at large.
“This effort, on our part, has elicited various
responses from different quarters over the last few
months,” he said, lashing out at Eritrea for its
failure to respond favourably to the Ethiopian
invitation for peaceful dialogue.
On the contrary, Meles charged that the major effort
of the Eritrean government has been to try to mobilise
ill-will against Ethiopia internationally, “portraying
our country as the one that has defied and violated a
valid legal decision.”
He said Asmara’s objective has not been to contribute
to the relaxation of tension between the two
countries, but rather, to fan it through extensive
hostile propaganda.
In addition, Meles accused Eritrea of engaging in
various provocative efforts and trying to use its
people as an instrument to advance the same objective.
The Prime Minister affirmed that Ethiopians would
always remain vigilant to defend their country and
enhance its defensive capability.
He pointed out that the international community
supported dialogue between the two countries out of
the realisation that implementation of the Border
Commission’s decision, as it stands, might undermine
peace between the two countries.
In its peace proposal, Ethiopia undertakes to pay its
dues to the Boundary Commission and to appoint field
liaison officers.
Though Ethiopia had been paying its contribution for
the work of the Commission, payment was interrupted
after what Meles described as “the handing down by the
Commission of its unjust and illegal decision.”
For the same reason, he said Ethiopia had deferred the
appointment of liaison officers who would be working
on sites along the border with experts of the Boundary
Commission.
Asking for the legislature’s approval of his peace
proposal, Meles said: “If there is indeed a desire for
peace on the part of the Government of Eritrea, there
is no doubt that since the proposal we are presenting
shows our preparedness to go more than half way for
peace, this initiative will make a great contribution
for peace in our sub-region.”