14 August 2000
Text: Ambassador Soderberg's Remarks on Ethiopia, Eritrea
(U.S. urges nations to use language of reconciliation) (1180)
Statement by Ambassador Nancy Soderberg, alternate representative for
special political affairs of the United States mission to the United
Nations, on the situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea, in the
Security Council, August 14, 2000
We would like to thank the Presidency for calling this important Open
Meeting and we join our colleagues in welcoming the Permanent
Representatives of Ethiopia and Eritrea to this Chamber.
Mr. President, through you may I ask our distinguished colleagues from
Ethiopia and Eritrea to let this occasion mark a new chapter in their
young bilateral relationship. At last and following a horrific price,
the guns have fallen silent. We implore the Governments of Ethiopia
and Eritrea to fill this silence with the language of compromise,
reconciliation, and hope.
With the exception of our island state members, all of us have
neighbors and all of us share common borders. The challenge to the
people of Ethiopia and Eritrea will be to determine what kind of
border they want. They can easily have a green line, where concertina
wire backed by military force marks a demarcation borne of nothing
more than physical separation.
That is not what we as a council must seek. Such a complete division
is certainly better than the resumption of conflict, but it might also
be a squandering of a unique opportunity. Mr. President, we urge the
governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to aspire to more than the tragic
experiences that produced decades-old lines across the Korean
peninsula, the Middle East and the island of Cyprus.
Instead, we believe that Eritrea and Ethiopia must turn towards the
SADC and COMESA model of integration based on the free flow of people,
goods and ideas. Looking further afield, perhaps Spain and Portugal
provide a useful model for the necessary inter-relationship that must
be developed. Ethiopia and Eritrea are unique national entities that
nonetheless share a range of common historical experiences. These two
countries must develop a sophisticated bilateral relationship based on
interdependence and a common agenda for prosperity.
Looking at the economic dynamo that is today's European Union, it is
appropriate to point out that the original impetus for the EU was the
realization on the part of Germany and France that economic
integration was the key to preventing forever the return to war.
Mr. President, the Security Council has an institutional concern here
as well. Blue helmets should not be viewed as some sort of substitute
for comprehensive peace agreements, they should be seen as the
creators of the opportunity to achieve peace based on shared values,
shared cultures, shared borders and shared aspirations. The growing
U.N. presence in Ethiopia and Eritrea should calm tensions and create
an enabling environment for the search for durable solutions.
The search for better bilateral relations goes on forever; the
presence of U.N. peacekeepers should not.
We as a council must ensure that peacekeepers provide the catalyst for
progress, and not a justification for inaction on the political front.
What the parties must seek is something infinitely beyond the mere
cessation of hostilities. Instead, we urge them to work towards a just
and lasting peace among nations.
Mr. President, we are in broad agreement with the recommendations
contained in the recent Secretary-General's report on Ethiopia and
Eritrea. Just as we did with UNSCR 1312 establishing the United
Nations Mission, we are currently drafting a resolution and hope to
move expeditiously to experts' negotiations.
We look forward to the rapid naming of an SRSG and the quick
deployment of a full U.N. mission. That is the Security Council's
obligation.
Our expectation of the parties is more than the mere cessation of
hostilities. The Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities signed
under the auspices of the OAU by Ethiopia and Eritrea makes explicit
the commitment of the parties to determine their common border,
including through the use of an arbitration mechanism if a quick
agreement cannot otherwise be reached. Indeed, this commitment appears
no fewer than five times in the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.
We as a council must press for an agreement on the delimitation and
demarcation of the common border as a critical component to a
comprehensive peace agreement. This element will be essential if the
peace between these two formerly warring neighbors is to be
self-sustaining and beneficial to the people of both countries.
The United States remains deeply concerned about the humanitarian
issues, especially renewed deportations, that are exacerbating the
living conditions of many people affected by the conflict and are
threatening to worsen relations between the two countries at a
critical juncture in the peace process. We call on the Eritrean
government to allow full access for the ICRC to detainee and POW
camps, and ensure that any repatriations are done with the full
involvement of the ICRC. We also call upon the Ethiopian Government to
ensure that appropriate international organizations, including the
ICRC, have full access to Eritrean civilians in areas of Eritrea
currently occupied by Ethiopia, and for the Ethiopian government to
allow access to all Eritrean POWs.
Our fondest hope is that both governments will turn their attention to
the genuine needs of their people: health, education, food security,
jobs and housing. As we know, there is no peace dividend if the peace
is based on mutual assured destruction, for that is merely a truce
based on the maintenance of arms.
Ethiopia and Eritrea must instead build peace on mutual prosperity and
mutual dependence, for that is a peace based on shared values and
shared aspirations.
(end text)
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