Ambassadors, Mission Leaders Urged to Give Priority to Protecting Nat`l Interest

Addis Ababa , February 7 /2021 ( ENA)  Ethiopian ambassadors, mission leaders and diplomats should give the utmost priority to protecting the national interest of the country at the global level, Foreign Affairs State Minister, Birtukan Ayano urged.

The state minister made the remark today during the opening ceremony of a two weeks training program organized for the newly appointed ambassadors.

In her speech, Birtukan said members of the TPLF junta and its partners have been working on disinformation regarding the current status of Ethiopia following the law enforcement operation in Tigray.

In this regard, ambassadors, missionaries and diplomats have a crucial role to curve such defamation and bringing attention of the international community to the right narration of the country, she said.

Citing the critical role of the diplomatic community and Ethiopians residing abroad on promoting the true images of the country, Birtukan said ambassadors have to work closely with the diaspora to counter such defamation.

“You have to prioritize the interest of Ethiopia ahead of the interest of individual, family or situations. You have to secure the national interest of the country at every level and I believe you could achieve it”, she noted.

The training organized for the newly appointed ambassadors and mission leaders will focus on  political diplomacy, economic diplomacy and citizen based diplomacy among others.

The objective of the training is to enhance the capacity of  Ethiopian diplomats by equipping them with the timely diplomatic perspectives.