Foreign Minister Seyoum in Finland, Norway and Italy
A high level Ethiopian delegation led by Foreign Minster Seyoum Mesfin made
official visits to Finland, Norway and Italy last week, between April 6 th and April
10th, holding extensive discussions with high level officials in all three countries on
wide-ranging issues of bilateral and regional matters of common interest. In Finland,
the first country on his itinerary, Minister Seyoum was warmly welcomed by Mr.
Alexander Stubb, Finland’s Minster for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Paavo Vayrynen,
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Mr. Pekka Haavisto, an MP and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Special Representative for African Crisis areas, Astrid
Thors, Minister of Migration and European Affairs and Martti Ahtisaari, the former
President of Finland. Minister Seyoum briefed the Finnish ministers on the current
state of affairs in Ethiopia as well as the political and security developments in the
Horn of Africa, underlining the major political and economic achievements of recent
years. He paid tribute to Finland’s important intervention in key economic and
social areas through its development program in Ethiopia. He hoped the momentum
of the program might be continued and even speeded up. Minister Seyoum also
briefed the Finnish ministerial delegation on the preparations being made for the
elections in Ethiopia. On their part, the Finnish officials emphasized that they were
closely following Ethiopia’s political, economic and social progress, including the
election process, with keen interest. They assured Minister Seyoum that Ethio-
Finnish economic and political partnership would be further consolidated in the
years ahead.
Following his successful visit to Finland, Minister Seyoum arrived in Norway where
he held similar discussions with Mr. Jonas Gahr Store, Minster of Foreign Affairs,
Ms. Ingrid Fiskaa, State Secretary for International Development, and Ms. Ine Marie
E. Soreide, Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Standing Committee. Minister
Seyoum briefed the Norwegian authorities on Ethiopia’s progress in political,
economic and social matters and on the preparations for May’s national and federal
election. Noting the longstanding people-to-people relationship, Minister Seyoum
expressed his profound appreciation of the economic partnership with Norway,
emphasizing that adding the economic assistance from Ethiopia’s partners had been
an important factor in achieving the double-digit economic growth Ethiopia had
registered over the last six years. Minister Seyoum detailed the importance of the
country’s ongoing power projects to Ethiopia and to the region at large as a source of
clean and renewable energy, and requested the Norwegian authorities to consider
making a strategic intervention in the energy sector. The Norwegian officials, who
commended Ethiopia’s economic policy and its leadership’s commitment to lifting
the country out of the vicious cycle of poverty, expressed their readiness to further
expand areas of economic cooperation. During his visit Foreign Minister Seyoum
held fruitful discussions with potential investors and briefed them on Ethiopia's
investment opportunities.
In both Finland and Norway, Minister Seyoum held discussions with his
counterparts on regional issues with particular reference to current developments in
Sudan and Somalia. Minister Seyoum also conducted a round table discussion on
Sudan with a number of policy analysts at the Norwegian Research and Foreign
Policy Institution. On Sudan, implementation of the CPA, this month’s election, next
January’s referendum, post-referendum scenarios, Darfur and other related issues
were the focal points of discussion. On Somalia, the recent political pact concluded
between the Transitional Government and Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a, piracy and the
overall security and political situations were discussed in detail. The prevailing
challenges and the narrow opportunities available in the quest for peace and security
were explored. There was agreement on the need for urgent intervention in both
countries by the international community to prevent degeneration into chaos. There
was unanimity that the conflicts in the Sudan and Somalia could have major political
ramifications throughout the Horn of Africa, and in the continent at large, unless
preventive measures were taken, sooner rather than later.
Following the visit to Scandinavia, the Ethiopian delegation visited Italy where
Minister Seyoum held talks with the Italian State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr.
Enzo Scoti, and other senior officials. Bilateral economic relations and regional issues
of common interest dominated the discussions. Both sides expressed a commitment
to consolidate economic links, with particular emphasis on the on-going power
projects. There was agreement that these projects would have a huge impact on
regional economic integration and help create mutually advantageous links between
the countries of the Horn. The Italian authorities reiterated their commitment to
continue support for the power sector in coordination with other partners of
Ethiopia. The talks also dealt with the current challenges facing the TFG in Somalia,
particularly the absence of institutional capacity in the areas of security and defence,
arising from the lack of financial resources that should have been committed by the
international community. The Italian side emphasized that Italy has already
committed substantial resources to the TFG in the areas of institutional building,
humanitarian assistance, security and military matters. It underlined that Italy was
also ready to play a leading role in galvanizing financial as well as political and
diplomatic support for Somali’s Transitional Federal Government.