COMPILED BY HIZKEL HAILU
Demeke Mekonnen holds talks with EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič, Head of the Secretariat of Russia-Africa Partnership Forum
H.E. Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Ethiopia received at his office this week, H.E. Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management. He has also discussed with H.E. Oleg Ozerov, Head of the Secretariat of Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.
Discussing with the commissioner, the two sides have discussed over the commendable efforts that the government has been undertaking so far and ways to mitigate observed challenges in delivering humanitarian support to affected people in the Tigray region.
Commissioner Lenarčič appreciated the improved access in the region that cut bureaucratic hurdles while he pointed out that the intensification of the campaign in the region made some rural areas inaccessible to humanitarian support.
Ambassador Lenarčič commended the agreement of EHRC and UN to jointly investigate alleged human rights violations in the region and appreciated the announcement of the withdrawal of Eritrean troops underscoring the need to expedite the process.
The Deputy Prime Minister, on his part, said commendable improvements have been registered so far in improving the lives of many people in Tigray although the government is still facing enormous challenges to tackle there.
The government is ready to mitigate the problems observed in the region and partners would register better results in this regard if they constructively engage in supporting the government’s genuine efforts than wasting time in throwing unnecessary criticisms, he said.
Regarding the visa extension request by partners, Demeke said the government is further consulting on the issue while the quest for access to communication equipment by humanitarian partners in the region will be handled by the guidelines that have been recently distributed regarding the matter.
During the discussion Mitiku Kassa, Commissioner for the National Disaster Risk Management Commission of Ethiopia (NDRMC) said many of the humanitarian partners and aid agencies are still concentrated in Mekelle and have covered only 7 percent of the non-food items and 30 percent of food items supports delivered to address the needs of 4.5 million people in the region so far.
In this regard, the government is still the major player in serving the needs of affected people in the region, and the international community is expected to scale up humanitarian support.
He said six woredas that were not reachable for humanitarian supports have now become accessible with a military escort since the past 15 days expanding access to areas in the region.
Regarding IDPs, he said there are 169,000 of them under 12 centers and the government is ready to provide them voluntary, dignified, and safe return to their homes or place them under the protection of host communities and temporary shelters for the time being.
By the same token, H.E. Demeke Mekonnen also had a discussion with H.E. Mr. Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large, and Head of the Secretariat of Russia-Africa Partnership Forum held on 22 April 2021.
The two sides discussed preparations for the Second Russia-Africa Summit which will be held in 2022 in Africa.
The Secretariat gave briefings about the tasks and responsibilities of his office, the creation of Association of Economic Cooperation with the African States which will bring major Russian and African companies to work together.
During the discussion, Demeke told the Secretariat Ethiopia’s commitment to strengthen the long-standing relations with Russia, appreciated the initiative of Russia to establishing the platform, and request to host the Second Russia-Africa Summit in Addis Ababa.
In addition, they exchanged ideas on cooperation in the areas of security, innovation/technology, agriculture, energy, nuclear medicine, geology exploration, etc.
H.E. Oleg Ozerov also presented the invitation of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to H.E. Mr. Demeke Mekonnen to visit Moscow.
Ambassador Alemayehu Tegenu confers with St. Petersburg/Russia officials
Meetings that consulted bilateral and Economic relations between Russia and Ethiopia were held this week between H.E. Ambassador Alemayehu Tegenu and Vladimir Zapevalov, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg and the Chairman of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, Evgeny Grigoriev.
Both meetings were also attended by the Honorary Consul of Ethiopia in St. Petersburg Alexander Vakhmistrov.
In their discussion H.E. Alemayehu Tegenu gave a briefing on the current situation in Ethiopia, the border issue with Sudan, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the upcoming election.
He also extended gratitude to Russia for its strong position in the multilateral relation with regard to Ethiopia.
Both sides agreed to enhance the existing business relation, and noted the success of the first Russian-Ethiopian business forum held in April 2019 at St.Petersburg and the recent business delegation visit to Ethiopia that took the relation one step forward.
Added to this, H.E. Alemayehu proposed to hold the second business forum in Addis Ababa in June 2021. Further to their discussion, both sides agreed to develop the cooperation between the two countries.
H.E Ambassador Mulu Solomon holds a briefing session on the current situation in Ethiopia with scholars, think tanks and researchers in Germany.
H.E. Mulu Solomon Bezuneh, Special Envoy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the Federal Republic of Germany held recently a webinar meeting with scholars, think tanks and researchers in Germany.
The discussion was aimed at explaining
as well as updating them on the current situations in Ethiopia including the situations in Tigray Regional state, trilateral negotiation on Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), situations at the Ethiopia- Sudan common border as well as the upcoming national election.
The Ambassador reaffirmed Ethiopian government’s commitment to address humanitarian challenges by providing aid to those affected. On the issue of GERD, the Ambassador stated Ethiopia’s readiness to negotiate in good faith through the African Union in line with the principles of fair and equitable utilization of trans boundary resources.
The Ambassador further expressed that problems along the Ethiopia Sudan common border can and will be resolved through negotiation via existing mechanisms between the two countries. An interactive exchange of ideas, questions and answers took place during the meeting.
Ambassador Yibeltal meets IGAD’s representative to Sudan Osman Hassan
H.E Yibeltal Aemero, Ambassador of Ethiopia to the Republic of Sudan held discussions with Osman Hassan Bilal, Head of IGAD Mission in Sudan on regional issues of common interest.
During the discussion, Ambassador Yibeltal briefed Osman Hassan Bilal about developments on the boundary issue with Sudan as well as the negotiation process of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
In this regard, he expressed Ethiopia’s readiness to reach an amicable solution on both files and its unwavering commitment to the prevalence of peace and security in the region.
In this regard, Ambassador Yibeltal reiterated Ethiopia’s readiness to support IGAD in its efforts to play a constructive role in promoting peace and security in the region.
Osman Hassan Bilal on his part thanked the Ambassador for the briefing and mentioned that IGAD is closely following these regional developments with keen interest.
In this respect, Osman reaffirmed IGAD’s readiness to play a positive role towards the peaceful resolution of any differences between its member states.
Ambassador Shibru Mamo held talks with Prensa Latina News Agency president Luis Enrique Gonzalez
Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Cuba H.E. Shibru Mamo and Prensa Latina News Agency president Luis Enrique Gonzalez on Wednesday agreed in Havana to expand the dissemination of news on Ethiopia’s current affairs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Ambassador gave an update on the main events in the political, economic, and social life of Ethiopia and the region, including the GERD negotiations, the Ethio-Sudan border dispute, and preparations for the upcoming general election.
The News agency releases multimedia stories in various languages and has got offices in 39 countries, including Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Herald April 25/2021
