by Engidu Woldie
ESAT News (July 13, 2018)
The scene in Addis Ababa today as flags of the two countries hoisted in preparation to welcome Isaias Afwerki. (Photo Etv)
Eritrea will reopen its Embassy in neighboring Ethiopia on Monday, twenty years after diplomatic ties were severed following a border war in 1998.
The reopening of the Embassy in Addis Ababa comes as Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki will pay a three day visit starting tomorrow, in a return gesture to the visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister last week to Asmara.
“The visit will cement further/add momentum to the joint march for peace and cooperation set in motion by both leaders,” Yemane G. Meskel, Eritrean Minister of Information said in a tweet.
Speaking today at a graduation ceremony of National Service and youth festival in Sawa, Eritrea, Afwerki said “strong effort will be exerted to make up the lost opportunities between the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia over the past 20 years.”
President Isaias has also praised “the bold political choice and clear vision of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed” which he said will “make significant contribution to the overall development of both countries,” according to the Eritrean Ministry of Information website.
Isaias will speak to a crowd of 25,000 people in Addis Ababa and will visit an industrial park in Southern Ethiopia. He will be visiting Addis Ababa after 25 years.
Rapprochements were set in motion after the appointment of Abiy Ahmed as Ethiopia’s Prime Minister in April, who extended an olive branch to Eritrea in his inaugural speech. Isaias reciprocate by sending a delegation to Ethiopia and inviting Abiy to visit his country.