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Ethiopia and Eritrea officially declared Monday the end of their "state of war", a long period of two decades following a brutal war on their common border.
The official end of hostilities is expected to bring stability to a part of the world best known for its lingering conflicts and in an area bordering one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world as war rages on. Yemen, just on the other side of the Red Sea.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday visited the Eritrean capital, Asmara, where he kissed President Isaias Afwerki on an airport tarmac. Leaders said countries would resume trade, economic and diplomatic relations, including the reopening of embbadies and resumption of flights. "The state of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea has come to an end," the leaders said in a joint statement. "A new era of peace and friendship has been opened."
More than 80,000 people died during the war.
Later Monday, Ethiopia asked UN Secretary-General António Guterres to lift the sanctions. against Eritrea, the chief of staff of Mr. Abiy said in a message on Twitter . The UN imposed an arms embargo and a partial ban on travel to Eritrea, citing its disputes with neighboring countries.
Guterres told reporters Monday that the sanctions could become "obsolete".
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in the early 1990s but did not record the same growth as its neighbor, sinking into economic and social isolation. Ethiopia, landlocked since secession, has a strategic interest in a critical Eritrean port, Assab.
A border war broke out between countries in the late 1990s, and since then they have been locked in an inflexible animus. Eritrean dissidents have accused the government of using the war to justify the endless military service that has been behind the exodus of Eritrean youth in recent years. Eritreans were among the largest group of people landing on the Mediterranean coast at the height of the European migration crisis.
Ethiopia, which has the second largest population on the continent, will seek access to the Red Sea through an Eritrean port. his trust in a neighboring Djibouti port
Few people had anticipated the rapid turn of events, even though the ruling party in Ethiopia had indicated a year earlier that it was going to change its relations with the country. Eritrea
. "I think it was decided some time ago and the changes in leadership within the EPRDF have facilitated it," he said, referring to the Ethiopian policy of # 39; Ethiopia. government coalition, the Revolutionary Democratic Front of the Ethiopian People, led by Mr. Abiy.
The rapprochement accelerated last month when Abiy announced Ethiopia would fully agree with a 20-year-old peace deal aimed at ending the border dispute. Mr. Abiy was among the thousands of soldiers who fought in the war.
On Sunday, Mr. Abiy said that he had agreed with the Eritrean President to "resume the services of our airlines, to operate our ports, to obtain our"
"There is no There is more border between Eritrea and Ethiopia because a bridge of love destroyed it, "said Mr. Abiy.
they would execute "the decision on the border between the two countries."
A website linked to the Ethiopian government indicated that East Africa's neighbors would reopen embbadies in the near future and that the Ethiopian airline to take flights to Asmara
Negotiations are under way to exchange prisoners of war, the website said, with direct telephone lines being re-established between countries the previous day, for the first time in two decades. 19659002] Abiy, who at age 41 is one of the youngest co-leaders Finally, came to power in April. Since 1965, his government has released political prisoners, granted amnesty to those accused of political crimes and promised to privatize part of the state-owned companies, including the national airline.
returned Monday to Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia.
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