Ethiopia and Eritrea ... .finally at peace!

After a good twenty years of war between the two nations, an agreement was signed on July 8, 2018 that effectively ended the conflict and reopened diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries.

After the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 the relations between the two states remained good for a few years, but later, in 1998, a bloody war began for territorial disputes, where over 80,000 people lost their lives and thousands of families were, in fact, separated.

The agreement found in Asmara by the leaders of the two nations of the Horn of Africa has important repercussions on the geopolitical map of the area and implies the resumption of bilateral trade.

Eritrea has already reopened its embassy in Addis Ababa, after it was closed in 1998.

The Eritrean diplomatic headquarters is as if it had been frozen in time: many objects that had been abandoned inside the building survived the time, remaining perfect; there are old dusty cars, furniture and furnishing accessories as well as bottles of beer, wine and oil, it is a real step back in time.

Photo Credits: BBC.co.uk

The families, separated for two decades, will finally be able to embrace one another; telephone connections between the countries have been re-established and, from July 17, 2018, Ethiopian Airlines has opened a new route that connects Addis Ababa to Asmara with one flight a day, using the new and ultra-technological Boeing 787.

This route is in addition to the 116 destinations in the world covered by the Ethiopian airline, that boasts one of the most modern fleet in the world and that is the main African carrier.