European Mediation to Ease Tension between Sudan, Ethiopia

Special European Envoy and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto held talks with senior government officials and military leaders in Sudan on the security situation on the eastern borders with Ethiopia and means to find peaceful solutions to the crisis.

Haavisto arrived in Khartoum on Saturday, presiding over an EU fact-finding mission in a trip that also includes Ethiopia in its second part.

His visit aims to help reduce the tensions between both countries and to see how the international community could provide support in finding peaceful solutions to the current crises facing the region, a statement read.

Haavisto met with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Vice President of the Transitional Sovereign Council Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and the ministers of Foreign Affairs and Irrigation and Water Resources.

According to the EU statement, the envoy listened to Sudan’s legal position and diplomatic moves regarding the tension on the border, in addition to the situation of Ethiopians who fled the violence in the Tigray region and sought refuge in Sudanese camps.

Meetings with officials in the transitional sovereign council and military leaders tackled the security situation with Ethiopia, and army’s role in supporting the civilian government and the democratic transition in Sudan.

Meanwhile, Sudanese Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din refuted Ethiopia’s claims that contradict with the 1902 internationally recognized border demarcation agreement. Addis Ababa argues that the deal was signed during colonial times.

“Ethiopia uses internationally agreed maps to mark its borders with Eritrea and refuses to adopt them to demarcate its borders with Sudan,” Qamar al-Din stated.

Tensions have been high along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border since December 2020 with intermittent clashes erupted when Sudanese armed forces reclaimed agricultural territories in the fertile al-Fashqa region, which had been under Ethiopia’s control since 1995.

On Friday, the Sudanese army deterred an Ethiopian army attack on the town of Barakat Noreen in al-Fashqa.

An Ethiopian military unit had advanced towards the town and fired at an area where the Sudanese army was stationed within its international borders.

The army directly responded and killed dozens of the attacking forces. One Sudanese soldier was killed in the operation, while three others were injured.