Guest Africa Podcast Podcast

Nobel Peace Prize: A new chapter opens for us (Ethiopian President)

By awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abyi Ahmed on Friday, the jury wished to reward his efforts for reconciliation with the Eritrean enemy brother. Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde says she is proud to see diplomatic efforts rewarded. Interview.

RFI: How do you react to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed?

Sahle-Work Zewde: Like all Ethiopians, we are all proud of this award, this recognition of the work done by the Prime Minister in just a year and a half. I think that his contribution has been immense in terms of stability for the subregion, for the Horn of Africa, which unfortunately has experienced many ups and downs and I believe that this is a new chapter that is opening up to us. We can write a page of peace and reconciliation rather than this page of fratricidal war that has often characterized us.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is notably awarded for his initiative described as " decisive " by the Nobel jury in the resolution of the conflict with Eritrea. The culmination of this process was the signing of the agreement of 16 September 2018 in Saudi Arabia. Do you have any particular memories of this process and how did Abiy Ahmed lead it?

What I remember is what the Prime Minister said when he took office, that he wanted to work for peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He realized it by taking this initiative. Nobody would have thought at that time that this reconciliation is possible. We remained at war, but also in a situation of neither peace nor war for two decades, it was necessary to change. The Prime Minister understood and I fully agreed with him that any progress, any reform in Ethiopia would have limits if we did not have the region with us and if we did not restore peace with our immediate neighbors and especially Eritrea, which is a big brother country. So that's what he did, and he was echoed by the Eritrean president, who agreed to turn the page and reduce tension. To ensure, and this must apply to the whole African continent if we want to build another Africa, that neighboring countries no longer serve as a sanctuary or rear base for rebel forces or opposition parties. All this allowed all those who had settled in Eritrea to return. The thaw was done this way, there was a peace agreement, now we have to put all this into action and that is what the government is doing.

Do you feel that in the way he sees his action, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed articulates regional diplomacy and the possibility of making changes internally ?

Absolutely. I believe that the basis of any policy in a country is based on the national interest. This situation, as we have seen with the normalization of our relations with Eritrea, has greatly contributed to accelerate our reconciliation efforts in Ethiopia. It is not only relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea that have been improved or standardized. The Prime Minister has also contributed immensely to the reconciliation and formation of a new government in Sudan. The Sudanese Prime Minister who is visiting our home reminded us yesterday [Thursday, ed].

Progress has been made with Eritrea, but all the difficulties are not resolved. The border in particular continues to be a problem, your country still does not have access to the Eritrean port. How are you trying to overcome the blockages that still exist?

Always see the glass half full. There was an extraordinary effort, which the international community applauded, since everyone had lost hope in this possibility of reconciliation. It's a giant step forward. What remains to be done now is to discuss, what is the government doing, to make sure that everything is institutionalized and that we operate as we do with other neighboring countries, as we did before the conflict? with Eritrea. We are at this stage.

On the domestic front, Abiy Ahmed faces an extremely important challenge, namely the stability of inter-community relations, the stability of the federation, this Nobel prize can it help?

No doubt, but we are also convinced that a lot of effort is being made inside the country to try to reduce tensions, if not to have more. Speaking of these internal tensions, we must know that two years ago, in the last two or three years, Ethiopia was on the precipice. We have seen the bottom of the abyss. I think we have come a long way and we are on the right track. Unfortunately, we do not have a magic wand that would help us find instant solutions, it's not a long quiet river far from it, but we are engaged in a path that can lead us to the development and prosperity of this great country that is Ethiopia.

Does this Nobel Prize send a signal ?

The reaction is very positive from the Ethiopians. It helps to elevate the debate. This shows that working for peace and reconciliation can lead to this kind of international recognition. We have a lot of resilience in Ethiopia and that can help us find solutions. Having seen many countries in Africa, I do not know how many would have resisted by having a tenth of the problems that our country has gone through. We are where we are today with a much brighter future than we have in recent years. It is in this sense that we must work.

What do you think is the message that the Nobel Peace Prize jury sends to the whole continent by awarding this prize to the Prime Minister?

We have a slogan at the level of the African Union: African solutions to African problems. The problem Ethiopia-Eritrea was solved by the two main protagonists at the initiative of the Prime Minister, in Sudan, we did the same with obviously the African Union. I think it's a message to the whole continent that if we change the prism with which we see things, we can find solutions. There are many possibilities on the African continent.