“The signature of the Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship represents an historic and courageous move by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed,” said Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President of the EU Commission.
“Breaking a twenty year old deadlock in bilateral relations, it raises unprecedented prospects for reconciliation and paves the way for enhanced regional cooperation and stability in the Horn of Africa,” she added.
She further said “the European Union stands ready to mobilise the support needed to consolidate the normalization of relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea and to build on new opportunities for regional cooperation.”
Similarly, the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, welcomed the joint declaration signed by Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders.
He commended the two leaders for choosing the courageous path of reconciliation, in the interest of their people, the region and Africa as a whole.
The Chairperson of the Commission stressed that the ongoing normalization process between Eritrea and Ethiopia is a milestone in Africa’s efforts to silence the guns by 2020.
“This example is worthy of emulation by all parties to conflicts and crises in other parts of the continent,” he said.
“Consequently, the Chairperson looks forward to renewed efforts by all concerned with the view to overcoming protracted conflicts and defusing existing tensions.”
