ADDIS ABABA– With a view to ensuring the common good, Ethiopia and Eritrea need to exercise maximum prudence in striking new bilateral deals and in charting new course, scholars said.
The scholars made the remark during the recent one day- long Symposium themed:‘Revisiting the Ethio-Eritrea Relations: From Separation to Conflict and Beyond.’
Presenting paper entitled the Vagaries of Interdependence: Interpretation of Ethio-Eritrean Conflict and Prospects from Addis Ababa University (AAU) Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Dr. AndargachewTilahun underlined the need for strengthening stable and healthy Ethio-Eritrea trade relationship by resorting to rule based-peace.
“Both countries’ negotiators have to make sure
any future bilateral trade deals bring equal benefits and avoid unfair trade competition.”
For his part, AAU Associate Professor at School of Law Dr. Dereje Zeleke pointed out the legal procedures and grounds for the settlement of the boundary dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea in his paper.
As to him, aside from reducing Ethiopia’s political vulnerabilities through getting the house in order to institutionalizing Ethio- Eritrea ties is a must for not making again the same old and disastrous mistake which cost heavy human casualty and material loss.
AAU – Center for Human Rights Head Dr.Wondimagegn Tadesse discussed the claims commission lessons for future Ethio –Eritrea relations. He advised both governments to carry out consultations with the victims of the border war in a bid to consolidate the ongoing peace building efforts.
Representing AAU Department of Political Science and International Relations PSIR, Amanuel Tesfaye, whose paper revolves around Ethiopia policy towards Eritrea called for refraining from blatant concessions and sticking to the old- aged Ethiopia’s multilateral diplomatic activities which would enable Ethiopia to fully utilize its economic potentials via creating conducive environment for the mutual development of all neighboring countries.
At the end of the Symposium, AAU school of law Asst.Prof.Martha Belete offered gleaning insights towards Ethio- Eretria trade relationsin her paper entitled Mending Ethio- Eritrea Trade Relation.
She explained the pros and cons of the past two Ethio- Eritrea trade agreements which are known as Asmara Pact and FreeTrade Agreement 1995 respectively and she urged the two sisterly countries to redefine their trade relation by establishing customs union ,ensuring integration of economies, eliminating tariffs and Non-Tariff Barriers(NTBs), harmonizing commercial and customs policies and the like.
She also noted the Cross-border trade between the two countries should be similar to the other neighboring countries.
The papers that were discussed on the symposium would be published on the Journal ofInternational Law in the near future. The symposium was organized by AAU school of law in collaboration with Friedrich- Ebert -Stiftung (FES) – Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Herald June 4, 2019
BY DANIEL BEYENE
