Ethiopia and Sweden hold bilateral consultations  

Addis Ababa, May 27, 2021 (FBC) – Ethiopia and Sweden have held their bi-annual bilateral virtual consultations on Thursday focusing on the relationship between the two countries, development corporations, and the current situation in Ethiopia and the region.

State Minister for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Ambassador Redwan Hussien, and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Robert Rydberg led the discussions.

The consultations covered issues on humanitarian support in Tigray, the negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and the upcoming general elections in Ethiopia.

Addressing the concerns of Sweden on the situation in Tigray, Ambassador Redwan reiterated that the government has considerably expanded access to humanitarian support and intensified efforts to deliver food and non-food items to those in need in the region.

The Ambassador also called upon the international community to scale up humanitarian support since the federal government has been covering the lion’s share of the delivery of aid exhausting its meager resources.

Acknowledging the efforts of the Ethiopian Attorney General and the joint investigation by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the UN OHCHR, the Swedes pointed out issues that have to be addressed to return the region to normalcy.

Regarding the upcoming general elections, Ambassador Redwan expressed his country’s commitment to making it free, fair while the Swedes expressed their confidence that it would be inclusive and transparent.

In their discussion on regional issues, the two sides noted that the border dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan and the negotiations over the GERD should get peaceful resolutions.

Noting the institutional support to Ethiopia’s reform programs, Sweden stated that it is developing a country program for 2022-2026 to further strengthen development cooperation between the two countries.

Sweden and Ethiopia signed a MoU in 2016 to hold bilateral consultations bi-annually.