The Foreign Ministers of the EU27 discussed again on Monday 13 December the dramatic humanitarian situation in Ethiopia after more than a year of civil war and intensified fighting between government forces and rebels in Tigray.
The aim remains to help bring about a ceasefire, but there is no time to adopt sanctions for human rights violations because of the lack of unity among the EU27. It was understood (see EUROPE 12851/18).
“Ethiopia is the subject we have discussed the most (in recent months: EDITOR’S NOTE). One of my biggest frustrations is that we have not been able to stop the massive human rights violations”, said High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell after this last Foreign Affairs Council of the year.
He cited the mass rapes and ethnic killings as examples. “I’m talking about my personal frustration. Because restrictive measures should have been taken. For many countries, this is not considered an adequate solution”, he said, adding that “this would have conditioned the behaviour of the actors”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)