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The Ethiopian finance official was trying to test if she could now call Eritrea after 20 long years of disrupting the neighboring country as a result of a bloody border war.
The person from the other line responded. It was a hotel
Negash, 33, told CNN: "The receptionist came, so I said" I call Ethiopia ". Then I sent her the congratulatory message and I told her that I'm very happy and she also said "I'm happy too".
Negash says she's now considering to travel to Eritrea later this year
Following the announcement on Monday of the restoration of telephone lines between the two countries, the Ethiopian telecommunications company Ethios has texted its 57 million subscribers, claiming that they could now call Eritrea.
Negash was one of the people who quickly picked their phones to check if it was true. She and others people in Ethiopia spent the day calling friends and family members long lost in Eritrea.
And l & # 3 9, occasional stranger too
"Oh my god, I'm so excited by this EthioEritrea thing, I just called a random number to Asmara and I had a good conversation with a woman named Frtuna and she speaks Amharic, "posted Twitter user Henok Karvonen.
It's been 20 years since a war resulted in the closure of communication between the two countries.
But a diplomatic breakthrough was reached this week after a two-day summit between the new Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, 41, and Erythrean President Isaias Afwerki, 71, in the Eritrean capital, Asmara.
They took to the streets waving flags and applauded after signing a joint declaration that announced the end of the war, which was conducted from 1998 to 2000 and left at least 70,000 dead .
Telephone lines that have been restored between the two countries. Diplomatic relations are now restored as both countries have agreed to reopen their embbadies and ports.
Ethiopian Airlines, one of Africa's most successful aerospace companies, will now begin flying to Eritrea.
Prime Minister Abiy also asked the UN to lift the sanctions against Eritrea.
The UN Security Council sanctioned Eritrea in 2009 for its alleged links with Somali extremist groups.
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