Eritrea/Ethiopia: Cheers for the obvious, Russia joins the fray

13 January 2005, EDnews -In matters pertaining to Eritrea and Ethiopia, many nations have applauded the maxim “resolving conflicts peacefully by way of dialogue/negotiations instead of war” that is contained in Ethiopia’s “5 point peace fraud”. And if it makes the government in Ethiopia feel better, Russia has today joined the fray and pronounced its obligatory praise for that maxim as well.

"We backed Ethiopia's initiative to settle the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict," said Foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia at the end of his talks with his counterpart from Ethiopia (RIA Novosti), compare ITAR- TASS report below. Russia is a vocal member of the UN Security Council, which Council has all along supports and stands by the decision of the boundary commission, called on Ethiopia to restate unequivocal acceptance of the border ruling and commitment to Algiers as recent as 21 Dec 2004.

Nothing wrong with Russia’s cheers except that there is no conflict of any kind between Eritrea and Ethiopia, nor did Russia or any one else for that matter say what conflict they are talking about or referring to. Absent that, the term “Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict” is manifestly a euphemism for Ethiopia’s defiance of the border ruling, for that and only that is what is impeding the progress of the peace process, which Ethiopia stopped by threatening force.

In a related matter, Ethiopia PM told BBC yesterday that "When it comes to implementation we feel that it is necessary that we make adjustments here and there with a view to coming up with a boundary that both sides can live with." With all due respect Mr. PM, people don’t go to court expecting a legal verdict that will make both sides happy. People go to court expecting a verdict that they must accept and live with even if they are unhappy with the outcome. Mr. PM, you got that to hear from some British Authority early January of 2004 as well, didn’t you?

It is a commonsense knowledge that in a court of law only one party prevails while the other must accept and live with the outcome.

Population and territorial shifts as a consequence of a delimitation decision are well covered and were very well known to Eritrea and Ethiopia prior to signing the Algiers agreement. All Ethiopia needs to do is to let the Boundary Commission do its job, for Algiers provides ample remedies for all of Ethiopia’s purported maladies. Following is Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom

Moscow, 13 January 2005 (ITAR-TASS): Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called for "the more effective use of the economic potential of relations between Russia and Ethiopia". He announced this today following talks with his Ethiopian counterpart Seyoum Mesfin.

The Russian minister described the talks as "extremely productive and corresponding to the agendas outlined by the leaders of the two countries". The meeting "discussed a wide range of bilateral and international relations, and also issues of conflict settlement in Africa". Lavrov noted that "Russian-Ethiopian relations, which are based on cultural and historical traditions, are on the ascent". He pointed out that "the potential for trade and economic links between the two countries is not being sufficiently exploited".

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, "a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic and scientific cooperation is planned for the middle of this year". At the meeting, Lavrov noted, "mechanisms will be created to monitor the results achieved". He believes that "with the participation of the private sector increased economic cooperation is possible".

"Russia," Lavrov said, "supports the initiatives put forward by Ethiopia for achieving progress in the Ethiopia-Eritrea settlement". The minister praised "Addis-Ababa's attempts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict with the participation of the UN and the African Union".

For his part, the Ethiopian foreign minister highlighted "the large role played and the great support given by Russia to African countries in the fight against modern-day threats". He noted "the positions shared by the two countries on many key problems" and spoke in favour of "broadening direct trade links between Russia and Ethiopia".

Source: ITAR-TASS news agency ; Moscow, in Russian 1341 gmt 13 Jan 05