Inconceivable few weeks ago – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

The region is best known for terror, endless wars and impoverished children with flies in their eyes only for peace and prosperity

– Africa's Crow greedy for peace and prosperity, declared the new Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, before returning to Eritrea in Eritrea last Sunday.

In the capital Asmara, he signed the declaration of peace

of African leaders as old despots. He is called one of the most dynamic and charismatic leaders of the continent. More points to Ahmed as a worthy candidate of the Nobel Peace Prize

Peace and Reunification

In the first paragraph of the Declaration of the Heads of State signed in Asmara, he states:

L & # State of war is over ] – The war is over.

In addition, it states:

Countries must cooperate closely, at the political, economic, cultural and security levels. Commercial, economic and diplomatic ties will be established.

The same day, countries had direct telephone connections between them. Local newspapers share stories of old mothers in tears who heard the children's voices last week.

People should be able to cross borders. Families divorced by Africa's response to the Iron Curtain can be reunited. From next Tuesday, Ethiopian Airlines will open an airline between capitals

Economic cooperation must be a priority. Before the ink was dry, Ethiopia asked the United Nations to lift the sanctions against Eritrea.

We can see that one of the most closed countries in the world is opening up. The consequences are numerous, important and insightful.

Bloody Context with the support from Norway

Eritrea is compared to the First World War, with trenches and massacres with machine guns. In just four days, 40,000 were killed. Since 1998, about 80,000 people have lost their lives during the war.

Now, it's over. In the first paragraph of the peace declaration, Ethiopia accepted the decision of the Border Commission in 2002. It gave Eritrea the right to agricultural areas potentially rich in minerals that Ethiopia has refused to give up for 20 years

.

The small Eritrean armed liberation campaign against the Ethiopian giant began after the annexation of Eritrea by Emperor Haile Selassie in the early 1960s.

L & # Ethiopia already controlled Eritrea for several years. , with the blessing of the world community. Norway was part of the UN Commission, which gave Ethiopia the right to appeal, thanks to the Emperor for the support that he brought to the Allies during the World War II

Exclusively because of the loss of Ethiopian support for Ethiopia.

Ethiopia not only lost the war, but the country also lost access to the sea. This long war and the port needs of the country are part of the backdrop to understand what is happening and the enthusiasm of the sudden peace of mind of Ethiopia.

Small country, what now?

The Asmara regime spent several weeks responding to Ethiopia's statement that the country would end the war on the conditions of Eritrea. It has been seen as a sign of desperation for this regime that for 20 years has removed its own population from a single explanation that Ethiopia was threatening the country's borders.

The Ethiopian threat was used as a reason for Eritrea. could hold elections. Therefore, the introduction of human rights had to wait.

Therefore, men and women were to be enlisted for countless military and other community services, that is, state forecasts with monthly wages up to $ 25,000. 39 to ten dollars. Community service has no time limit and includes everything from health staff to laundry workers in hotels and farm workers.

The UN compared forced labor in Eritrea with slavery. In addition, a large number of refugees have witnessed arbitrary imprisonment, arbitrary detention and torture. The young people fled. Much in Norway

What will happen to the regime now as its own reason for suppressing the population, its "reason of state" has disappeared, is a question we can get the answer very quickly. Scientists who say they have little confidence in the survival of the regime.

The Diplomacy of Peace Unknown

The Asmara regime was not only informed, but it was also involved in the process, according to Principal Investigator Martin Plaut at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies .

People of the World Church, who have already explored the possibilities of a solution in September of last year, wrote Plaut. It resulted in meetings in Washington, where the Minister of Information of Eritrea and the Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs participated.

In April, the new Ethiopian Prime Minister wanted to speak directly to the president of Eritrea on the phone. The president will finally respond to the call from Addis Ababa after pressure from Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the United States. Then the UN and the African Union became involved.

The result is peace between enemies. This background story is read in the Saturday edition of the acclaimed weekly newspaper "The EastAfrican". The article is illustrated by a drawing of the two heads of state who are pinched in the arm. This is an incredible success, said UN Secretary General, António Guterres, on the Peace Initiative.

He went to Addis Ababa the same day that the Prime Minister was returning from his historic trip. promising the abolition of strict UN sanctions against Eritrea.

The good reasons for it 39, Ethiopia

More and more widespread growth is seen as an important cause of the peace initiative. The economic growth rate, which has been above 10% for several years, is misleading when the starting point was so bad.

Ethiopia is still one of the poorest countries in the world and population growth is among the largest in the world.

Debt to China concerns Ethiopian leaders and international financial institutions. War is expensive, peace can be very lucrative.

Peace also means that Ethiopian armed insurgents no longer get Eritrea as a base.

Ethiopia's main goal is to access the world's oceans through erratic ports. The country already has port agreements in Djibouti and a Somali region, but Ethiopia wants more options. That this landlocked country has ambitions for its own navy, affirms its need for binding agreements on access to the sea.

Work is already underway to reopen the roads of the highlands Ethiopians at the coast of Eritrea. When the NRK visited Ethiopia this spring, before the Prime Minister 's peace initiative, we met no one who supported the border war. According to an Ethiopian investment forum, war was an incomprehensible currency.

At the AFP news agency, Professor Kjetil Trovoll said that it was at the origin of a war between the presidents of the two countries . On the Ethiopian side, the Tigray people constitute the minority that has led gigantic burdens with more than 100 million inhabitants for decades, who have refused to abandon the border areas. Today's President served at the border, but belongs to the Oromo people who are not affiliated with Eritrea.

When we visited Eritrea a little over two years ago, we found no youth who supported the war. On the contrary, many of us in Asmara told us that they would be better off if Ethiopia came in and took control of the country. On the other hand, we recorded some support for the war and the diet of the older generation, who had fought in two wars against Ethiopia.

Urgency

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is a man with a bad time Since he's been jailed three months ago, he released tens of thousands of political prisoners, opened the door. economy, invited parties banned from violence, spelled out its own security police to support state terrorism and established peace with Eritrea. 19659004] The speed may be due to the need to do so many things that it will be difficult to reverse the development. We must assume that there are strong opposites among those who have been leading Ethiopia for decades, who do not see the change. Several researchers pointed out that no member of the Ethiopian ethnicity participated in the peace meeting in Asmara

. What are the resources of power still available to this group if it wants to take power in the country, we do not know. The Prime Minister survived a bomb attack a few weeks ago, with no one taking responsibility.

Today, the Eritrean President paid a three-day visit to Addis Ababa. It follows the visit of the Ethiopian Prime Minister to Eritrea last weekend.

Despite optimism, several observers and researchers are asking us to be the lunatics. The regime in Ethiopia can be discarded. The next attack may take the life of the prime minister. The development of democracy can be stopped. The peace agreement has not yet been negotiated. The leaders of Eritrea may be cold feet. All this construction can collapse, writes Martin Plaut.

But it seems that this is the beginning of the most surprising and positive that has happened on the continent for many years.