Africa-Press – Ethiopia. March 13/3/2021(ENA) Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen exchanged a phone call on Friday with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto and discussed on current situation in Ethiopia.
The two sides discussed the situation in the Tigray region and the Ethiopia-Sudan border dispute, including the negotiations over the GERD, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Deputy Prime Minister reiterated that the government is exerting its energy in providing massive scale humanitarian support in Tigray reaching 3.8 million people so far.
The government, in collaboration with the Interim Administration of Tigray is doing its level best in rebuilding damaged infrastructures, reopening public services, and rehabilitating displaced people in the region, he added.
He also recalled the government’s decision in granting unfettered access to humanitarians and the media and touched upon the need to scale up humanitarian support to affected people in the region.
Regarding the human rights concerns in the region, independent institutions in Ethiopia in conjunction with the African Union would probe into the matter with the possibility of involving other parties in the investigation process, he said.
Discussing the Ethiopia-Sudan border dispute, Demeke underlined that the two countries can solve the problem through dialogue by employing existing mechanisms.
He said the belligerent actions of Sudan in violating the sovereignty of Ethiopia are not acceptable and the international community should pressure Sudan to respect international law and evacuate its military forces from Ethiopian lands.
They have also talked about the negotiations over the GERD and the need to resume dialogue to reach amicable solutions among the tripartite.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto on his part, thanked Demeke for the briefing, recalled his recent visit to Ethiopia as EU special envoy where he had held conversations with senior officials, and said he has been closely following encouraging situations in Tigray.
