Irish minister calls for implementation of border ruling

Speaking in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Tuesday, Tom Kitt, the Irish minister of state for development cooperation and human rights, urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to overcome their border stalemate and take action to effect the "rapid implementation" of the two-year-old border ruling rejected by Ethiopia. The call was made a day after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told European officials that the ruling relating to his country's disputed border with Eritrea was a recipe for disaster. "Both parties must honour their commitment to accept the ruling of the boundary commission as final and binding," said Kitt, whose country currently holds the EU presidency. "Justice and the rule of law are at the core of a peaceful settlement of the dispute and of harmonious coexistence both at national and international levels," he said. EU Development and Humanitarian Commissioner Poul Nielson has warned that Ethiopia’s refusal to abide by the ruling may threaten its development relations. The EU is one of Ethiopia's largest donors, having pledged some US $480 million towards its development over the next five years. Kitt also revealed that the EU was preparing to send a three-member ministerial mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea "in the very near future" in a move aimed to edge the stalled peace process forward. "We certainly underline the importance of the need to move forward, and our role is to be facilitators as best we can in this process," he said. Kitt went on to say that as part of its role as one of the four guarantors of the 2000 Algiers peace process, the EU would be willing to offer its support towards bringing about a "lasting reconciliation" between the two countries. The Irish minister's comments came on the eve of the arrival in Addis Ababa of the new UN special envoy, Lloyd Axworthy, who is due to meet Meles at the end of the week. Before travelling on to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, Axworthy will also hold talks with African Union Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, EU ambassadors and UN officials. Senior diplomatic sources in Addis Ababa told IRIN they were hoping that the Ethiopian government would respond in some way to international calls for the implementation of the border decision. They pointed out that any signal in this context from the Ethiopians could then serve to encourage the Eritreans to make a positive gesture towards dialogue. Kitt also told parliamentarians from the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, who are in Addis Ababa to attend the EU/ACP joint trade conference, that fighting the massive debts owed by poor nations was a top priority inasmuch as it constituted a stumbling block to their economic recovery. Ethiopia’s debt is nearly 150 percent of its GDP, while sub-Saharan Africa as a whole spends $14.5 billion a year repaying what it owes the world’s richest countries and financial institutions like the World Bank. Many of the 78 ACP countries whose representatives are attending the four-day conference are seeking greater debt relief. They argue that servicing their debts alone is draining desperately needed resources from underfunded areas sectors such as that of health. Kitt told the parliamentarians that while Ireland held the EU presidency, it would ensure that debt cancellation remained high on the agenda.