The European Union High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has acknowledged welcoming the agreement reached between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) for the cessation of hostilities.
Borrell praised the «commitment» of both parties, as well as their «courage» in taking steps towards peace. He also praised the work of the African Union (AU), mediator in the agreement, and South Africa, host country of the talks.
«There is a need for rapid implementation on the ground of the agreement reached today. The priority is to resume humanitarian access in all affected areas and restore basic services, in particular in Tigray,» Borrell said in a statement.
However, the head of European diplomacy encouraged the parties not to limit themselves to this agreement and called for further negotiations to achieve a permanent cease-fire and to be able to push forward political talks at the highest level.
Finally, Borrell has conveyed his support to the Ethiopian population at a time when the second anniversary of the beginning of hostilities is approaching. «It remains of utmost importance that the victims see that justice is done to the perpetrators of these crimes,» said the European representative, praising accountability as a «cornerstone» for peace and reconciliation.
The African Union mediator, Olusegun Obasanjo, announced Wednesday that the Ethiopian government and the TPLF have signed an agreement for the cessation of hostilities in the framework of the conflict that has plagued the Tigray region (north) since November 2020.
The talks were attended by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and former South African Vice President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, as well as representatives of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the United Nations and the United States.
The TPLF agreed to sit down for talks with the Ethiopian government in early October, an initiative put forward by the AU to reach a «peaceful resolution of the current conflict». One of the TPLF’s conditions was that during the negotiations there should be «additional actors» as observers or guarantors.
The war has seen an upsurge in recent weeks following the outbreak of renewed fighting in August after a five-month humanitarian truce agreed between the parties. The TPLF earlier denounced a large-scale offensive by the Eritrean Army in support of Ethiopian forces.
The conflict in Tigray erupted in November 2020 following a TPLF attack on the main army base in Mekelle, after which the government of Abiy Ahmed ordered an offensive against the group following months of political and administrative tensions. A «humanitarian truce» is currently in force, although both sides have accused each other of impeding the delivery of aid.
The TPLF accuses Abiy of whipping up tensions since coming to power in April 2018, when he became the first Oromo to take office. Until then, the TPLF had been the dominant force within Ethiopia’s ruling coalition since 1991, the ethnically-supported Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The group opposed Abiy’s reforms, which it saw as an attempt to undermine its influence.
