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Sub Saharan Africa
Ethiopia |
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Country information
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Eritrea
Eritrea secured independence from Ethiopia after a UN supervised referendum in 1993. A dispute over the ill-defined border with Ethiopia flared into military conflict in May 1998. There were an estimated 100,000 casualties. Hostilities concluded with the signing of the Algiers Peace Agreement of December 2000. This established a Boundary Commission to delimit and demarcate the border and established a 25km Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) between the 2 countries. A UN peacekeeping force (UNMEE) has been deployed along the TSZ since 2001. India, Jordan and Kenya are the major troop contributors to the now-2000 strong force. Under the Peace Agreement, UNMEE was to remain in place until the delimitation and demarcation of the border had been completed.
The Boundary Commission (BC) announced its decision on the border on 13 April 2002. Demarcation was due to follow in 2003. However, when it became clear that the town of Badme (where the hostilities started) had been awarded to Eritrea, Ethiopia challenged the BC's conclusions. In November 2004 Ethiopia announced its acceptance "in principle" of the BC ruling but progress on demarcation remains stalled and tensions between the two countries remain high. With no progress on the ground, the Boundary Commission declared a virtual demarcation in November 2007. Ethiopia does not recognise the legal validity of the virtual demarcation.
UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
Somalia
Ethiopia has a restive Somali population of its own (Region V) - where an active insurgency is on-going – and still harbours memories of Somalia's occupation of the Ogaden in 1977/78 and has therefore played an active role in the peace-process in Somalia. However, Ethiopian intentions have been viewed with suspicion various Somali factions, exacerbated by the recent military intervention. Ethiopia has close relations with Somaliland (which has declared its independence from the rest of Somalia) and makes use of the Somaliland port of Berbera.
Ethiopia intervened in Somalia in December 2006 in support of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), then under pressure from the Mogadishu-based Islamic Courts Union. Ethiopia has committed to withdrawing its troops as soon as possible, but currently remains deployed in several locations in support of the TFG forces and a small African Union stabilisation force.
Djibouti
Djibouti is vital to Ethiopia because its port serves the majority of Ethiopia's import and export needs. Relations are generally good, but there have been periodic disagreements over the terms of Ethiopia's use of the port.
Ethiopia's Relations with the UK
Visits
The UK and Ethiopia enjoy a close relationship, including a major development partnership. Prime Minister Meles was a member of the Prime Minister's Africa Commission. The main recent contacts were:
- Former Prime Minister Blair (for a meeting of the Africa Commission) visited Ethiopia in 2004. Regular visits were made by Hilary Benn, former Secretary of State for International Development (October 2004, June 2005 and January 2006). Visits to Ethiopia were also made by Lord Malloch Brown Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, FCO (December 2008 and Baroness Shriti Vadera, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, DFID (November 2007).
- Visits to the UK by Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, took place in March 2005, May 2004 and February 2003. The Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Seyyoum Mesfin, visited in November 2007.
Cultural Relations
The British Council is the focal point for cultural relations between Britain and Ethiopia and has been established in Addis Ababa since 1943.
Policy
For recent statements of UK Government policy towards Ethiopia see the Hansard website, and enter Ethiopia in the search engine.
