Ethiopia and Eritrea’s peace efforts were crowned by success. The reformist new prime minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in Eritrea’s capital and later met one-on-one with Mr Afwerki. Both Africa countries declared the end of the war, BBC reported.
On Monday, the live broadcast by Eritrea’s state TV showed president Isaias Afwerki greeting him at the airport while and Asmara’s streets were hung with Ethiopian and Eritrean flags. The African countries officially declared the end of war, a declaration came at a landmark meeting between the two countries’ leaders in Eritrea’s capital, Asmara.
Later, the national leaders agreed that a new era of friendship and peace has been ushered in, the Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebre Meskel confirmed that on Twitter.
‘Joint Declaration states, inter alia, i) State of war that existed between the two countries has come to an end. A new era of peace & friendship has been ushered; ii) Both countries will work to promote close cooperation in political, economic, social, cultural & security areas,’
he wrote.
While Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous nation and one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, tiny Eritrea is one of the world’s most closed-off nations, ruled by Mr Afwerki since gaining independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after years of rebel warfare. But the two neighbouring countries share close cultural ties, so having a good relationship is much better for both of them.
