Ethiopia Keen to Foster Ties With Caribbean Countries: Ambassador

June 9/2021(ENA) Ethiopia is keen to foster relations with Caribbean countries, Ethiopian Ambassador to Cuba, Shibru Mamo Kedida said.

According to a statement from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ambassador said the African roots in the peoples of the Caribbean nations facilitate the relations that Ethiopia is interested in fostering today as a foreign policy objective.

“Africa is the home and source of a civilization, a culture and ancient traditions that are inherent in the hearts of the Caribbean People," Shibru is quoted as saying in an interview with Prensa Latina.

According to him, Ethiopia is very interested in cooperating with the Caribbean countries, which is vital to its overall development and active participation in regional and international platforms and forums.

The government has "great interest in continuing to expand and deepen the collaboration with the Caribbean brothers, because we share common development challenges and priorities, and we advocate strengthening our voices on these vital issues," he stressed.

The ambassador has also explained Ethio-Cuba’s relations as historical, long-standing, deeply rooted and based on a solid foundation of friendship, founded on blood during the defense of Ethiopia’s sovereignty in the 1970s.

Bilateral ties between Ethiopia and Cuba has been strengthened throughout these years in the execution of cooperation programs in various areas such as health, education, science and technology, he added.

Moreover, he also told the media about the government's effort  to providing humanitarian assistance for the people in Tigray Region in collaboration with international humanitarian agencies.

Besides, the government is working on rehabilitating the social institutions and reconstructing the infrastructures that were damaged by the TPLF during the law enforcement operations.

Ethiopia is highly dedicated to unravel the differences with the downstream countries and adhered to the African solutions to African problems, the Ambassador argued.

In spite of the discouraging statements from Egypt and Sudan regarding the trilateral negotiations on the GERD, he said Ethiopia had continued the negotiation in good faith and with full commitment to resolve the issues and reaching a win-win solution.

Regarding the dispute with Sudan the Ambassador said the Sudanese military attacked civilians and vandalizing their properties and invade the Ethiopian territory when the government shifted its resource and attention to the law enforcement operation in Tigray Region.  

Ethiopia repeatedly requested Sudanese Military to return back to the November 6, 2020 status and maintain the status quo ante, he explained.

On his concluding remark, the ambassador said that Ethiopia is scheduled to hold general elections on June 21, 2021.

In this regard, 40 million people are registered to vote and 47 political parties are registered to participate in this historic election.