Ethiopia: EU called on Ethiopia to implement ruling on border with Eritrea
Source: BBC Monitoring Media
Publication date: 2003-12-08


Excerpt from report by Ethiopian newspaper The Reporter web site on 7 December

The EU has, once again, called on Ethiopia to accept and implement the decision by the [Ethiopia-Eritrea] Boundary Commission as final and binding in accordance with the Algiers Agreement.

The EU has also said the new press law [in Ethiopia] should ensure practicality of the constitutional rights and guarantees and encourage participation of non-governmental media organizations.

Italian Ambassador to Ethiopia Mr Guido La Tella, whose country is the current chair of the EU, made the remarks last Monday [1 December] when he presented the EU's statement at the meeting [in Addis Ababa] on food security in Ethiopia. The ambassador said the EU shared the position taken by the group of donors on the issue.

Regarding the annual progress review [last three words in English] presented by Ethiopia, the ambassador said the review should have better focused on the obstacles the government was facing in the implementation of policies, particularly the reform programmes, adding that the EU shared the position taken by the group of donor countries on this issue as well.

Noting the government's determination to improve human rights and to ensure the supremacy of law and the spread of democracy, the ambassador called on the government to convert it into meaningful and practical work. Underlining that resolution of the dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea was a precondition for development in the region, the ambassador urged the two countries to abide by the agreement they signed and to implement the ruling by the EEBC. He also urged the two countries to overcome the deep-rooted unhealthy political differences between them. [Passage omitted]

Publication date: 2003-12-08