Ethiopia keen to foster ties with Caribbean Countries: Ambassador Shibru

Addis Ababa, June 9, 2021 (FBC) – Ethiopian Ambassador to Cuba, Shibru mamo told Prensa that Ethiopia is interested to enhance its ties with Caribbean countries.

The African roots in the peoples of the Caribbean nations facilitate the relations that Ethiopia is interested in fostering relations with the Caribbean nations as part of its 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,” said the Ethiopian Ambassador in an interview with Prensa Latina.

Ethiopia is very interested in cooperating with the Caribbean countries, which is vital to their overall development and essential in their active participation in regional and international platforms and forums, he argued.

The Ethiopian 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,” the Ambassador stressed.

Regarding relations with Cuba, he expressed that they are “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 have been strengthened throughout these years in the execution of cooperation programs in various areas such as health, education, science and technology.

The federal government is providing humanitarian assistance for affected people in Tigray Region in collaboration with international humanitarian agencies, the Ambassador stated. 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, Ethiopia had continued the negotiation in good faith and with full commitment to resolve the issues and reaching a win-win solution, he argued.

The Sudan military attacked civilians and vandalized their properties and encroached the Ethiopian territory when the government shifted its resource and attention to restore the law enforcement operation in Tigray Region, the ambassador remarked.

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.