BY HAILE DEMEKE
ADDIS ABABA –The recent U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Ethiopia demonstrates the two countries’ long-standing relations and opens new chapter to beef up their bilateral ties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Ethiopia Spokesperson said.
In his biweekly press briefing MoFA Spokesperson Ambassador Meles Alem said that the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ethiopia proved that the diplomatic relation between the two countries has been elevated to a new chapter of cooperation.
“The visit proves that the relation between Ethiopia and the U.S. has been growing from time to time proves the ties between the two countries in to the next level,” he said. As to him, the visit of the Secretary of State is a sign of the beginning of the new chapter in the bilateral relations between Ethiopia and the U.S. and the visit is a demonstration of growing bilateral ties inmultilateral areas of cooperation.
“It is a new milestone towards the transformation of age-old bilateral relations between the two countries into new chapter of cooperation. The visit was a significant step toward rebuilding and revitalizing relations between the two countries.”
Moreover, during his stay in Ethiopia, Secretary Antony Blinken held various discussions with high-ranking officials on bilateral and regional issues of mutual concern and implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities (CoHA) as well as the endeavors to ensure accountability through transitional justice system. Secretary Blinken also disclosed the possibility of Ethiopia being reinstated into the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) after full implementation CoHA.
Accordingly, the U.S. is willing to reinstate Ethiopia into AGOA after full implementation of the agreement and will work actively with the Ethiopian government on the implementation the Pretoria Peace Agreement. It is to be recalled that on Wednesday U.S. announced more than 331 million USD in new humanitarian assistance for Ethiopia 2023 through the department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development in support to those displaced and affected by conflict, drought, and food insecurity in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian March 17/2023
