Purpose of Foreign Pressure Part of Attempts to Hinder Ethiopia's Efforts to Become Self-reliant: Senior Diplomat

Addis Ababa October 24/2022 (ENA) The undeserved foreign interference in the internal affairs of Ethiopia and diplomatic pressure being exerted against the country is aimed at hindering the efforts to become economically self-sufficient, veteran diplomat Ambassador Tiruneh Zena said.

Ambassador, Tiruneh Zena, is a senior veteran who has served his country for more than three decades, including in the United Nations.

Speaking with ENA regarding the current international issues of Ethiopia, Ambassador Tiruneh said some western countries do not want to see the development of other countries, so that they try to hinder them in various ways.

He further said that Ethiopia’s history of anti-colonialism and resistance, its population and size, as well as the geopolitical interest of some countries in the horn of Africa, has made Ethiopia under watch by some western nations.

Some western countries do not want third world nations to become strong in all aspects and working for the developing countries to remain dependent on food handouts, he said noting that they are not happy with the development endeavors being carried out in Ethiopia.

In order to attain their goals, they are working to weaken Ethiopia by putting undue economic and diplomatic pressure including sanctions, Ambassador Tiruneh said.

''Since very long time, the western world has used the issue of human rights as a political tool to suppress countries',' he pointed out, adding the recent outcry of the human rights institutions is part of it.

According to him, since the first and second world wars, they used international institutions, including the United Nations, to fulfill the wishes of the West global political interest in other countries.

He explained that for far too long the partisanship of the United Nations and its deviating approach from multilateral diplomacy norms has been getting worse.

The West's continued pressure on Ethiopia emanates from fearing Ethiopia’s rise, he said.

They even fabricate internal conflicts and prolong the conflict, the ambassador stated they lament about humanitarian issues, "not for the sake of humanity and justice, but to fulfill their hidden desires."

He further explained that their support and position towards TPLF openly and covertly is aimed at supporting the subversive group  because they are using it as a tool to achieve their goals.

Therefore, he suggested that it is better to first build internal capacity to deal with undue interference and diplomatic pressure on Ethiopia.