Eritrea's former ambassador to the United States and current Education Minister Semere Russom has been appointed the country's first ambassador to Ethiopia. Following two decades of hostility, the nations are slowly making moves to repair relations, one of which is Russom's Asmara's diplomatic mission to Addis Ababa, that the Information Minister Yemane Meskel shared on Twitter. Ethiopia's ex-ambassador to Ireland, Redwen Hussien, will become Addis Ababa's Asmara representative. Earlier this week, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki reopened the country's Ethiopia-based embassy. The countries signed an agreement, on July 9, to restore ties that had been severed in a 1998 conflict. The envoys from both countries were expelled before the two-year border boundary war which killed about 80,000 people. The process of peace was established by recently elected Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who pushed for the end of the war between the two Horn of Africa nations. Both Afwerki and Ahmed have made official visits to the other. On Wednesday, Ethiopia’s national carrier Ethiopia Airlines made its first flight to Asmara in two decades. Dancers, flags wavers and reunited families celebrated the historic event. Source URL |
