The Ethiopian government announced its refusal to deal with the European Union’s special envoy to Ethiopia, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, after his briefing to the European Parliament regarding his visit to the country.
Addis Ababa said that it finds it difficult to deal with this envoy, who must be a neutral and impartial mediator, stressing, however, its desire to continue the partnership with the European Union. Read also The Times: Murder, rape and mass graves reveal the hidden horrors of the Ethiopian war in Tigray Telegraph: Ethiopians suffer horrific burns from what appear to be white phosphorous attacks in Tigray French expert: Ethiopia practices scorched-earth policy and has left nothing for Tigrays
A statement issued by the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry described Haavisto’s briefing as “claims full of lies through which the envoy seeks to interfere in Ethiopian affairs.”
Addis Ababa criticized what it considered sarcasm by the European official on the elections in the country, which reflects his prejudice, according to the statement.
Haavisto had said that the Ethiopian leadership said – during his talks with it last February – that it will destroy the Tigray region, and it will eliminate this ethnicity within 100 years.
Describing this as ethnic cleansing, he warned that the Tigray crisis was spiraling out of control.
The United Nations Human Rights Office said that all parties to the conflict in the region are accused of violations, noting that the blame is largely placed on Ethiopian and Eritrean forces for forced starvation, expulsion and mass rape.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed launched a campaign of the federal army on Tigray to arrest and disarm the leaders of the “Tigray People’s Liberation Front”, the ruling party in the region, accusing the group of launching attacks on army camps.
The federal forces were supported by forces from its northern neighbor Eritrea, and the forces of the Ethiopian Amhara region, which borders Tigray from the south, and Ahmed declared victory on November 28, after seizing the regional capital, Mekele.
The Eritrean forces are accused of committing atrocities in Tigray, including massacres, rape, looting, and others, and Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch confirm that these forces killed hundreds of civilians in the city of Aksum. The French Press Agency also documented a massacre allegedly committed by Eritrean forces in the city of Dongolat last November.