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by Elias Meseret | AP July 8 at 5:01 am
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – With laughter and hugs, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea met for the first time in nearly two decades Sunday in a fast and spectacular diplomatic thaw. The new Ethiopian reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in the Eritrean capital and a live broadcast of Eritrean public television showed President Isaias Afwerki welcoming him to the airport in unthinkable scenes a few months ago. "A fraternal embrace," the Eritrean Minister of Information said on Twitter, sharing photos.
The crowds danced and sang for the rulers, and the streets of Asmara were paved with Ethiopian and Eritrean flags. Abiy and Afwerki crossed the capital in a large procession where people sported T-shirts with their photos. The leaders then met one-on-one with a smiling Abiyou leaning towards Afwerki under a wall hung with their portraits
The visit comes a month after Abiy surprised people by fully accepting a peace agreement that ended a two-year border. war between the two nations of East Africa that killed tens of thousands. Ethiopia and Eritrea have not had diplomatic relations since the beginning of the war in 1998, Abiy himself fighting in a city that remains disputed today, and the countries have been swindled since.
Abiy's chief of state, Fitsum Arega, said on Twitter The visit aims to "deepen efforts to achieve lasting peace." He shared pictures of the leaders meeting and said that Abiy was "very warmly welcomed" by Afwerki, 72 years old. the story and the link are unlike any other, "he said." We can now overcome two decades of mistrust and take a new direction. "
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called this visit "effort to normalize relations with Eritrea" and said that Abiyi had to discuss with »
An Eritrean diplomat, his ambbadador to Japan, Estifanos Afeworki, said on Twitter that "No leader has received such a warm welcome, as today in Asmara, in the history of Eritrea."
the meeting, which was shown live by Ethiopian state television
"History … the beginning of the end. The glbad ceiling was broken, "wrote Shewit Wudbadie, a resident, on Facebook. Another Facebook user, Djphat Su, wrote: "Am I dreaming or what?"
The decision to fully accept the peace agreement was the largest and most surprising reform announced by the 42-year-old Ethiopian Prime Minister. in April and quickly unleashed a wave of reforms, releasing journalists and opposition figures, opening up the state economy and unlocking hundreds of websites after years of anti-government protests demanding more of freedoms.
Afwerki's announcement noted "positive signals" from Ethiopia and sent the first official delegation in two decades to "evaluate current developments directly and in-depth" to plan next steps. Ethiopian took advantage of the visit to announce that the flagship Ethiopian Airlines would soon start flying to Eritrea.
While Ethiopia is Africa's second most populous nation and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, Eritrea is one of the world's largest nations. more closed of the world. , ruled by Afwerki since his independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after years of rebel war. Eritrea has become an important source of migrants fleeing to Europe, Israel and African countries in recent years, as human rights groups criticize its military conscription laws. .
Observers of the diplomatic thaw asked if peace with Ethiopia would lead Eritrea to relax and abandon its long defensive stance.
Not everyone has welcomed the peace agreement of Ethiopia, some residents of the Tigray region in the northern bordering of Eritrea.
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