Daily Times

An Eritrean delegation arrived in the Ethiopian capital on Tuesday, taking the next step in a historic diplomatic ballet aimed at ending decades of conflict and hostility.

The thaw between the foes who fought a bitter border war 20 years ago follows an olive branch dramatically offered by new Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed. Abiy greeted Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and presidential adviser Yemane Gebreab at Addis Ababa’s airport, leading them along a red carpet past traditional dancers, local celebrities and a brass band.

The meeting takes place just three days after a blast at a rally attended by Abiy — a sign, analysts say, of the risks he has taken with a programme that embraces far-reaching change at home and abroad. Earlier this month Abiy said he would abide by a 2002 ruling, issued by a United Nations-backed commission, and withdraw from contested territory, including the town of Badme, that both nations claim.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki responded last week saying he would dispatch a delegation, “to gauge current developments directly and in depth as well as to chart out a plan for continuous future action.”

He stopped short of calling it a peace delegation but an official visit alone marks a dramatic shift in relations long mired in suspicion and bloody hostility. The last time Ethiopian and Eritrean troops fought head-on was just two years ago, with each side claiming victory in response to what they said was the other’s aggression. A former province, Eritrea voted for separation from its much larger southern neighbour in 1993 following a three-decade-long independence war. But just five years later a new border war erupted between the two countries, killing around 80,000 people before it ended in a stalemate in 2000.

Deadly war, risky peace

Ethiopia ignored a subsequent ruling that it should withdraw from territory awarded to Eritrea. Since then, a tense standoff has persisted with both maintaining a war footing with shots occasionally fired, and backed each other’s rebels. The apparent detente in recent weeks has raised hopes of a normalisation of relations that might boost regional trade and ease tensions.

Published in Daily Times, June 27^th 2018.