Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto went on a second mission to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region last weekend in an attempt to finally gain full humanitarian access to the victims of the conflict in Tigray, an end to hostilities, the launch of an independent investigation into allegations of serious human rights violations, and the effective withdrawal of Eritrean forces.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, had mandated in respect of this on 22 March, threatening sanctions against all human rights violators at the end of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting (see EUROPE 12683/4).
Mr Borrell said in his blog on 3 April that Mr Haavisto went to Addis Ababa “to repeat our requests to the [Ethiopian] government and assess the situation”.
Mr Haavisto also consulted with the African Union and held talks with authorities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. On 5 April, he mentioned on Twitter the work going on regarding “peace and security in the Horn of Africa”.
After his meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Secretary of State Adel al-Jubayr, Mr Haavisto reported on the previous day that good discussions [were had] on regional peace and security”.
He will report on his mission to the Foreign Affairs Council on 19 April where further action will be discussed.
On Friday 2 April, Mr Borrell and the G7 Foreign Ministers had expressed “concerns about the worsening food insecurity, with emergency conditions prevailing in large areas of central and eastern Tigray”.
They urged the parties to the conflict to provide “immediate, unhindered humanitarian access” and called on the government to ensure that the withdrawal of Eritrean forces is “swift, unconditional and verifiable”.
See the statement: https://bit.ly/3cYqUoV (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)