Ethiopia/Eritrea: An Olive Branch,and Thorns

ETHIOPIA/ERITREA

An Olive Branch, and Thorns

It’s been a whirlwind few months for Ethiopia and Eritrea after the election of 42-year-old Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in April ushered in a rapprochement between these two feuding nations.

In just a few months, leaders of the two nations ended a state-of-war that had frozen diplomatic relations between them for almost two decades. Ambassadors have been appointed, political prisoners have been released and citizens of both nations are hopeful that years of isolation, poverty and repression have reached an end.

Both countries stand to benefit from rejuvenated relations, Quartz reported.

For Eritrea – sometimes called the “North Korea of Africa” – the reopening of its ports to Ethiopian trade means a windfall of lucrative investments. And for Ethiopia, long saddled with rebel movements on its border with Eritrea, détente means increased national security and confidence in its booming economy.

But both nations also face steep challenges.

Prime Minister Abiy is a young go-getter seen as a reformer and unifier. He’s the nation’s first Oromo prime minister, an ethnic group that comprises one-third of Ethiopians but often claims it’s repressed by other groups. But he isn’t well-liked by Ethiopia’s political and military elite, who see his reforms as a challenge to the status quo, the Wall Street Journal reported.

His moves to open up state-owned entities to private investment and usher in an era of civil liberty and electoral reform have already sparked criticism – and even violence. A subverted grenade attack at a rally in the capital Addis Ababa last month is speculated to have been an assassination attempt, the Washington Post reported.

Meanwhile in Eritrea, though leaders have pronounced an end to “hate, discrimination and conspiracy,” questions remain about how revived relations with Ethiopia will affect change on the national level, the Associated Press reported.

Since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, hundreds of thousands of its citizens have fled for Germany, Israel, the United States and elsewhere due to its oppressive government and strict system of indefinite military conscription.

Families in both countries have celebrated the opportunity to be reunited with loved ones.

Some refugees, however, told the AP that there’s still “no trust in the current regime” in Eritrea. They’re wary to leave safe havens in the West and elsewhere while the prospect of peace is still in flux.

Even so, many argue that the potential for peace outweighs any unknown economic, diplomatic, or border demarcation questions both nations face in the future.

“I have never been more hopeful about Ethiopia’s prospects,” Mohammed Ademo, an Ethiopian journalist in exile in the United States since 2002, wrote for Al Jazeera. “For now, my exile and longing for home have come to an end. I am glad that it coincided with this defining and pivotal moment of renewal for Ethiopia.”