BY SOLOMON DIBABA
Ethiopia and the EU have continued to enjoy cordial and fruitful bilateral relations for over 42 years. This relation was based on the Cotonou Agreement; in which Articles 8 to 13 define the bilateral political dialogue between the two parties, as well as in a set of other conventions and political commitments. Ethiopia and the EU have been working together on multiple facets of political and development cooperation in areas as diverse as development cooperation, trade and economic development, consolidation of democratic institutions, regional peace and security and migration. Ethiopia is one of the EU’s important partners on the African continent, active in regional peace and security as well as on thematic international debates such as climate change.
Ethiopia has always been thankful for the cooperation, solidarity and partnership it conducted with the EU and most of the projects that were financed by EU including budget support, agriculture and infrastructure development, good governance and democracy have helped to develop a nascent democratic order in the country.
The EU has been providing scholarships and capacity building programs for Ethiopian students, university staff and researchers through Erasmus and Marie Skłodowska- Curie Actions, and to continue to work on the mutual recognition of academic degrees. The EU and Ethiopia promote the importance of science and technology, research and development, information communication technology and the transfer of know-how as a basis for sustainable development.
The EU works to help create a strong economy that rests on its functional and structural diversification, the improvement of productivity and competitiveness, the promotion of Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), an enhanced qualification of the human capital and a well-trained labour force who has the skills that are required on the labour market. The EU and Ethiopia also work together on private sector development and the improvement of the business climate.
However, over the last two years and at present time, the EU and EU Parliament have been engaged in multiple sets of interventions into the internal affairs of Ethiopia by providing direct and indirect support to Terrorist TPLF and countries in the neighbourhood who are toiling from dawn to dusk to weaken and ultimately destroy the statehood of the country through well-orchestrated conspiracy based on total misinformation campaign on the government and people of Ethiopia.
A number of EU member countries have sponsored more than 10 UNSC sessions to pass resolutions on Ethiopia’s GERD program and the situation in Tigray by openly interfering into the internal affairs of the country in a bid to entangle Ethiopia with a series of sanctions which never materialized. The EU itself has come up with various resolutions which were intended to choke Ethiopia’s efforts towards economic development and sustainable peaceful situation across the country.
On October 5, 2022, the European Parliament issued a resolution entitled “European Parliament resolution on the recent humanitarian and human rights situation in Tigray, Ethiopia, notably that of children.” The first item of the resolution reads, the EU Parliament “Reiterates its urgent call for immediate cessation of hostilities and ceasefire in Tigray and the neighboring regions without preconditions”.
The timing of the resolution is indeed worth noting. The resolution was issued at a time when the ENDF have almost wiped out the terrorist rag tag army from Amhara and Afar and is out on the run to Mekelle. This certainly indicates the leitmotif of the Parliament to save the terrorist group and its army from the advancing Ethiopian Joint Defense Forces. A couple of days back General Tsadikan Gebretensaie, one of the commanders of the terrorist army echoed the same demand almost word for word in a bid to buy time for preparation of another round of war under the guise of the propaganda of cessation of hostilities. This also indicates how the conspiracy again nest Ethiopia is well coordinated with Terrorist TPLF at the center at global scale.
The document continues to“ Strongly condemns the deliberate targeting of civilians by all the warring parties and the reported recruitment of children by certain warring parties; recalls that deliberate attacks on civilians, the targeting of children and the recruitment and use of child soldiers constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity;”
Now an important question sets in. Who has been engaged in deliberate targeting of civilians? All EU member countries have totally and deliberately kept quite when Terrorist TPLF deliberately targeted children and mothers, the elderly, priests and sheiks killing them in day light under the skies of Amhara and Tigray regions. Why did the Parliament fail to condemn the mass killings by the terrorist fighters in Chena, Kobo, Raya, Alamata, Gashena, in North Wollo, Glakoma in Afar, Mai Kadra, Kombolcha and Diesse? The double standard on the part of the European Parliament which claims for human rights is really appalling and disgrace to the Parliament.
By using the phrase “warring parties”, the European Parliament equates a federal sovereign government with a terrorist organization which is illegally ruling Tigray. This shows the extent to which the EU has degraded a partner country on equal footing with a terrorist group which has been engaged in gross violation of human rights by blocking transport, confiscating food, fuel medicaments and vehicles meant to deliver food to the citizens in Tigray. It is sad that the EU Parliament is deliberately blinded by the make belief false propaganda with no willingness for fact checking.
Indeed the world knows to date that Terrorist TPLF is recruiting child soldiers mentioned in the resolution but the European Parliament has no voice for these voiceless young generation in Tigray. Again, the Resolution calls on “all authorities in Ethiopia, in particular the federal government and the regional governments in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, to adhere to the highest human rights standards, to address as a priority the egregious war crimes committed against the most vulnerable, in particular children and women, and to protect its youth in line with the UNCRC.”
The Resolution deliberately takes care not to offend Terrorist TPLF by glossing over all the attempts made by the Government of Ethiopia in working with the JIT in investigating human rights violations and crimes against humanity and the overall attempts made by the EHRC in conducting deeper and wider investigations as compared to the low standard online and telephone investigation made by the Human Rights Council investigating team report which was rejected by many African countries and other members of the UN at the recent UNGA deliberations.
The Resolution attempts to blame every bit of the government nomenclature in Ethiopia to save Terrorist TPLF from the wrath of its own people and goes on with an empty narrative that attempts to order around a legitimate and responsible government engaged in law enforcement in the Ethiopian territory.
The Resolution states that it is “dismayed by the reports of rape and crimes of sexual violence against children, women and men which have been perpetrated on a staggering scale by all the belligerents, is deeply concerned by and calls for immediate attention to reports of the killings and maiming of Tigrayan, Amhara and Afari Children on ethnic grounds which constitute war crimes” The resolution sounds as if the European Parliament is unaware how Terrorist TPLF stole fortified food from UNICEF, USAID and other stores of NGOs to feed its fighters.
There is also a solid report with evidence that Terrorist TPLF fighters have raped thousands of women, children and even very old ladies and men in Amhara region, a crime which is war crime. It is difficult to assume that the European Parliament is totally unaware of this but fails to view a spade as a spade.
It is so interesting to observe how the global conspirators borrow words and false narrative from each other. The US State Department has been falsely accusing Ethiopia of blocking food aid and using food as a weapon of war. The European Parliament Resolution repeats the same words as if repletion of falsehood will turn out to be true. The Resolution goes on stating “strongly condemns the use of starvation as a method of warfare, recalls that obstruction of the delivery of food and health care and denial of these services amounts to crimes against humanity, recalls that humanitarian aid and assistance is based on the principle of, humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.”
Let us make things strait. The flow of food from Djibouti to Abaala has been checked only at 3 checkpoints for easy flow of food but by waging war on Afar region and blocking the road at Abaala, the terrorist is still starving the people of Tigray by stealing half a million liters of fuel from WFP depot. The question therefore is who is using food as a weapon of war and who is starving the people of Tigray. Fact checking denotes that the entire European Parliament is based on Terrorist TPLF propaganda and is simply a propaganda document prepared to save the terrorist group.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
The Ethiopian Herald October 12/2022
