Eritrea and Ethiopia signed an agreement at a summit in Saudi Arabia Sunday that will bolster relations between the two countries which have been at war for twenty years
“The Jeddah Peace Agreement signed today before the CTHM is a historic milestone for the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea and will contribute to strengthening security and stability in the region at large,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in a tweet.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and UN Secretary General Antonnio Guterres. Details of the agreement were not released.
Relations between the Horn of Africa neighbors have improved since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced in June that Addis Ababa would finally honor a U.N.-brokered deal to end a two-year border war that killed an estimated 70,000 people. The war was followed by nearly two decades of cold war, proxy conflicts and, at times, open hostilities.
The announcement led to a historic peace deal signed last month by Abiy and ritrean President Isaias Afwerki that formally ended one of Africa’s longest, most intractable conflicts.
Eritrea, a former province of Ethiopia, broke away from its much larger neighbor in 1993.
In recent years Eritrea has strengthened ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which has reportedly built a military base at the strategic southern port of Assab used in its operation in Yemen.
