Sunday, December 29, 2019

Eritrean President : “It Was Like a Two Months Long Visit”
Eritrean President _ PM Abiy 
Photo credit : OPM

Borkena
December 27, 2019

Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki has arrived in Asmara on Friday Morning after concluding three days off an official working visit to Ethiopia.

He was seen off by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.

His visit was packed with events – ceremonial ones as well as serious ones like meeting with Prime Abiy Ahmed, apparently it was a closed meeting. They reportedly discussed ways of strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

He has also visited industrial sites within 100 kilometers range of Ethiopia’s capital. Adama Industrial Park, Industrial projects in Dukem and Bishoftu (Debrezeit) are some of the projects he and his delegation visited during the second day of the visit on Thursday.

In the afternoon, he has to lay the foundation stone for the construction of a new Eritrean Embassy building near Hamle 19 recreation park in sidist kilo area of the city.  He was joined by Abiy Ahmed who said: “it is a Christmas gift for the people and the government of Eritrea.”

The day was wrapped up with a dinner invitation for the Eritrean delegation at the National Palace. The dinner event was labeled as “Let’s celebrate shared historical chapter.”  President Sahle-Work Zewdie and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen, among other senior-level Ethiopian government officials, attended it.

“My two days of visit felt like two months; it was filled with several surprise events, “state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) cited president Isaias as saying. It is unclear if he was being sarcastic about it.

Yet, viewed from the business of his visit which was to bolster ties between the two countries, it seems it has achieved its purpose. In a new update published on Friday, The Ministry of Information of Eritrea said: “President Isaias and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed underlined that both Governments are working to redouble efforts to achieve peace and develop strong bilateral cooperation in several sectors.” He is also cited by Ethiopian media as saying the three generations of time is lost between the two countries.

President Isaias Afeworki has visited Ethiopia at least four times since Ethiopia and Eritrea signed friendship and peace agreement in July of 2018.

A considerable number of Ethiopians see his visit in a positive light. Others, especially those who are indifferent to politics, see his visit with indifference.

Still others tend to see his visit with anger and hate. A prominent pro-TPLF digital news portal, Tigrai Online , wrote on December 27 : “The real reason for Isaias Afwerki’s visit is to reassure the masters of the Middle East and the Western world there is no crack between Isaias and Abiyot Ahmed.”

The article itself is given the title “The destructive symbiotic relation of Isaias Afwerki and Abiyot Ahmed.”

While it described Abiy Ahmed as “low-level security officer…who was spying for foreign governments came to power in Ethiopia,” Eritrean President is labeled as “leader of the African North Korea”.

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