ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 26 -- The Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders on Thursday vowed to cement recent gains in the rapprochement of bilateral ties as the two former arch-rivals seek to deepen socio-economic integration.
This came on Thursday as the visiting Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki arrived in Ethiopia, accompanied by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and laid a foundation stone for the construction of a new Eritrea Embassy facility in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Afwerki, who is in Ethiopia together with a high-level Eritrean delegation including the country's foreign minister Osman Saleh as well as other senior Eritrean government officials, during the occasion expressed the Red Sea nation's resolve to start a new chapter after the two countries saw two decades of armed standoff.
The Eritrean president "reiterated Eritrea's resolute decision to work with requisite vigor to recoup lost opportunities by three generations to bolster new chapter of cooperation between the two countries," the Eritrean Minister of Information, Yemane Gebremeskel, quoted Afwerki as saying during the cornerstone-laying event.
The Ethiopian premier on his part also stressed that the construction of the new Eritrean embassy "will further cement the diplomatic ties between the two countries," state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) quoted Ahmed as saying.
"During the visit, we had discussion on potential areas of economic integration and how to exploit them," Ahmed said, adding that the two neighboring countries "will do more to lift the peoples of the two countries out of poverty."
Ahmed further noted that the imminent 2020 "will be a year to lay foundation to bring prosperity to the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea as well as to the whole East African region."
Afwerki and his high-level delegation's visit to Ethiopia came as the two Horn of Africa countries over the past year embarked on bilateral efforts to normalize ties as the long-time rivalry among the two neighboring nations ended after a series of events that started soon after Ahmed's appointment as Ethiopia's prime minister back in April last year.
Recent positive developments in the two countries' relations are considered a new beginning since the two countries' bloody border war from 1998-2000, which killed an estimated 70,000 people from both sides. The war was ended by a December 2000 Algiers peace agreement, but it left the two countries in a state of bitter armed standoff for two decades.
After 20 years of hostility, Ethiopia and Eritrea resumed diplomatic relations last year, mainly following the Ethiopian PM Ahmed's landmark visit to the Red Sea nation in July in 2018, and a week after, Eritrea's Afwerki paid a courtesy visit to Ethiopia.
Amid the easing tensions, telecom services between the two countries have resumed, embassies resumed diplomatic relations, and agreements were made to strengthen bilateral ties. The two countries' flag carriers - Ethiopian Airlines and Eritrean Airlines - have also started flights to Asmara and Addis Ababa, respectively.
Leaders of the two countries had also agreed to increase the movement and amount of bilateral trade through Eritrea's port city of Assab to Ethiopia's Addis Ababa.
象牙塔里的爱情禁忌
西班牙:未成年人醉酒 父母或被罚款
真人版维纳斯:美国独臂女孩摘“美国小姐”区冠军
真的能和《国王的演讲》中演的一样治疗口吃么
压力压力快走开:快乐人群的减压9法
致那些可以助你职场晋升的软技能
山东男子电死外星人系造假:橡胶制成 造价120元
新西兰惊现11岁少年父亲 与同学36岁母亲产子
《傲慢与偏见》续集:新一任达西先生花落马修•瑞斯
工作狂要小心:压力太大会导致一夜白头!
美国小镇禁穿低腰裤 违者罚款
巴顿术:福尔摩斯曾经用的防身术
美版“蜗居”:杜克大学研究生为还贷款两年住货车
上海电影节开幕众星云集
华尔街日报致毕业生:给应届大学毕业生的理财建议
美国加州校园枪击案:致7人死亡 枪手被击毙
老鼠怕猫是谣传!大胆老鼠抢猫粮 喵星人竟默默围观
花费不高,饮食却更健康的方法
英学者呼吁改革公民入籍测试
高考纪录片:外国人眼里的中国高考(视频)
邓文迪离婚与布莱尔有关?英国前首相声明否认
说话声音比说的内容还重要
不满财富“被缩水” 沙特王子起诉《福布斯》
默多克与邓文迪:破镜难圆
你能接受男人穿真丝吗
英国女子离婚一年减重90斤 身材苗条重获新生
春天在哪里?农民工工资增长缓慢
国际传媒大亨默多克提出与邓文迪离婚
六名中国留学生法国遇袭 一名女生脸部受重伤
那些振奋人心的毕业致辞究竟保质期有多久
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |