UNMEE response to rejection of map

Spokesman for the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, Chris de Bono, reiterated in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, on 29 June that the UN map of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) was only temporary. Responding to the Ethiopian rejection of the map, he said it was for the “independent neutral Boundary Commission to demarcate and delineate the boundary between the two countries”. He said the temporary map recently issued by the UN was needed so that the two governments could “build confidence and maintain calm” while the Boundary Commission completed its work. De Bono said the UN Security Council had asked the two parties to agree to work with the map “in a statement which is second only in strength to a resolution”. Answering questions by journalists, the spokesman indicated that the UN would insist on working with the map, rather than withdrawing it. “We believe that trying to address the concerns of the two parties about a temporary map will slow down our work and the peace process.”