By Ebi Kesiena
The European Union (EU) has pledged assistance worth 650 million euros to Ethiopia, nearly three years after it cut direct aid to the East African country over atrocities committed in a bloody civil war.
The EU commissioner for international partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen announced the agreement during a press conference with Ethiopian Finance Minister, Ahmed Side, in the capital Addis Ababa, on Tuesday.
“It is time to gradually normalize relations and rebuild a mutually reinforcing partnership with your country,” said Urpilainen, describing the aid package as “the first concrete step” in this process after a cease-fire ended the war last November.
According to Ahmed, the aid would help boost Ethiopia’s post-war recovery and facilitate badly needed economic reforms at a critical juncture for the country.
The EU aid package was initially worth $1.04 billion and was due to be given to Ethiopia from 2021 to 2027, but it was suspended in late 2020 after fighting broke out in the northern Tigray region. The U.S. also halted assistance and legislated for sanctions.
“This strategic partnership is now back on rack,” he said.
However, direct budgetary support to Ethiopia’s government remains suspended and will not be restored until “very clear political conditions” are met, Urpilainen said without specifying.
She added that a program from the International Monetary Fund was also needed first.
Earlier on Tuesday, Urpilainen held meetings with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the African Union Commission.
The Tigray war killed unknown thousands and was characterized by massacres, mass rape and allegations of enforced starvation. The EU has long insisted it would not normalize relations with Ethiopia until there was accountability for these crimes.
Ethiopia has tried to block a U.N. probe from investigating the atrocities and has launched its own transitional justice process, which human rights experts say is flawed.
While the UN probe has said that all sides committed abuses, some amounting to war crimes.
The EU’s aid pledge to Ethiopia came a day before the deadline for renewing the mandate for the investigation at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
