EUHR Solana welcomes Ethiopia's acceptance of the Boundary Commission Ruling

The High Representativ Javier Solana welcomes the public announcement by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that his Government accepts in principle the Boundary Commission ruling of 13 April 2002 on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia, as well as the endorsement by the Ethiopian Parliament of this decision. The statement reconfirms the commitment, given prior to the ruling of the Boundary Commission by both sides, to accept the ruling as final and binding, and removes doubts that had emerged following Ethiopia's previous objections to the demarcation of the border.

HR Javier Solana is particularly encouraged by Ethiopia's acceptance to start with the demarcation of the border and its appointment of Field Liaison Officers to facilitate this task. He hopes that Ethiopia's decision will lead to a speedy start of the demarcation of the border, and thus contribute to breaking the stalemate in the peace process.

HR Javier Solana encourages the Government of Eritrea to respond positively to Ethiopia's offer of talks about the root causes of the conflict, with a view of normalising relations between the two countries.

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• EU Presidency declaration on Ethiopia and Eritrea (26/11/2004)