The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said, on Monday 12 July, that sanctions should be considered for Ethiopia at a time when the humanitarian situation in Tigray is catastrophic.
“I think the situation in Ethiopia certainly requires us to look at all the options available to us. The option of restrictive measures must be on the table”, said the High Representative after the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU.
Despite the ceasefire announced by the government, “the situation has never been worse in Tigray”, he warned, citing the risk of famine for 1.85 million people, the use of violence against civilians and rape as a weapon of war.
“The ceasefire is positive, but what is happening today is that Tigray is cut off from the rest of the world, (...) which puts the region at risk of mass starvation”, Mr Borrell said.
While the EU is organising an airlift of humanitarian aid to the region, the High Representative recalled that it could not resolve the conflict alone. He called on Member States to make donations “as a clear sign of European solidarity”. According to him, the situation on the ground requires the mobilisation of UN agencies and humanitarian access.
Mr Borrell also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, the withdrawal of foreign troops from Ethiopia, an end to human rights violations and the launch of a national reconciliation dialogue “to preserve the political unity and integrity” of the Ethiopian state. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)