Eritrea leader visits Ethiopia amid thaw in ties
addis ababa (ethiopia) — To dancing and cheers, Eritrea’s longtime president arrived in Ethiopia for his first visit in 22 years on Saturday amid a dramatic diplomatic thaw between the once-bitter rivals.
Thousands turned out in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, under tight security to welcome President Isaias Afwerki, whose three-day visit is the latest step in ending a long state of war. “Welcome home President Isaias!!” the Ethiopian prime minister’s chief of staff said on Twitter.
Ethiopia’s reformist new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made a similar visit to Eritrea’s capital last weekend, welcomed by Isaias with hugs and laughter.
The 42-year-old Abiy broke the ice last month by fully embracing a
peace deal that ended a 19982000 border war that killed tens of thousands and left families separated. A series of diplomatic breakthroughs quickly followed as one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts neared an end.
Some excited Ethiopians have compared the restoration of relations with one of the world’s most closedoff countries to the fall of the Berlin
Wall. Telephone links have opened, with some Ethiopians calling complete strangers in Eritrea just to say hello, and the first scheduled Ethiopian Airlines flights to Eritrea begin on Wednesday.
A visibly moved Abiy on Saturday praised residents of the capital for their warm welcome of the Eritrean president, with their chants of “Isaias! Isaias!” and flag-waving.
“I’m very emotional right now. I have no words to express how proud I am,” Abiy told a luncheon at the National Palace.
“Thank you for the genuine love that you all showed us,” Isaias said in return. “This is a historic day for all of us. Anyone who thinks the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia are separated is considered as naive from now on.”
The two leaders also are expected to attend a concert of about 25,000 people on Sunday featuring local artists.
Some Ethiopians lining the streets for a glimpse of Isaias’ motorcade chanted songs that criticised the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, which for years was the ruling coalition’s strongest political party and hostile to Eritrea.