BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) and the United States (US) will restore their ties with Ethiopia gradually and cautiously, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday.
He made the statement after a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where they discussed Ethiopia’s civil conflict and the recent peace deal.
While Borrell called it “one of the rare bits of good news that we have in the world,” he stressed that the EU and US would need to “continue working hand-in-hand” to support the agreement.
The two-year conflict saw Ethiopian government forces fighting against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a rebel group that briefly came close to capturing the capital.
UN investigators have reported evidence of crimes against humanity by both sides while the government forces blockaded the Tigray region.
However, early last year, a humanitarian truce was declared, and in November, peace talks in Pretoria produced a cessation of hostilities.
In return for disarming, the TPLF received the restoration of access to Tigray, with communications, banking, electricity, and humanitarian aid slowly returning to the region.
Last month, the Ethiopian parliament voted to remove the TPLF from a terrorist blacklist.
EU, US monitoring situation to normalize ties
Borrell emphasized that the message to both the government of Ethiopia and the Tigrayans is that the EU and US are monitoring the conflict settlement closely and will only normalize relations step-by-step.
This cautious approach is due to the evidence of crimes against humanity committed by both sides and the need to ensure that the peace deal is successful in ending the conflict.
The EU and US will be gradually restoring ties with Ethiopia, with a focus on monitoring the peace process closely.
