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The rapid warming of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia further progressed on Tuesday when rivals, once bitter, reopened their common border after two decades.
Yemane Meskel, Eritrea's Minister of Information, announced the historic event on Twitter "President Isaias Afwerki and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially opened the crossing point of Debay Sima-Burre between the two countries for road connectivity, "said Meskel. and the Ethiopian Prime Minister respectively.
Meskel said Afwerki and Ahmed will hold a similar ceremony next Tuesday at the Serha-Zalambesa border crossing.
The reopening of the border crossing took place during a ceremony marking the Ethiopian New Year. Fitsum Arega, chief of staff of Prime Minister Abiy, posted photos of an Abiy dressed in camouflage walking beside President Afwerki, dressed in a dull olive.
Relations between neighbors of the Horn of Africa have improved since Prime Minister Ahmed announced in June that Addis Ababa would finally honor an agreement signed in 2000 to end two years of border war. The war was followed by nearly two decades of cold war, proxy conflicts and sometimes open hostilities.
The announcement culminated in a historic peace deal signed last month by Ahmed and Afwerki, which officially ended one of the longest and most difficult conflicts in Africa. Both sides have since reopened embassies and re-established air routes, telephone lines and cross-border trade.
Eritrea, an ancient province of Ethiopia, has separated from its much larger neighbor in 1993.
