The Ambassador of Ethiopia in Sudan, Yibeltal Aemero Alemu, met on February 9 in Khartoum with the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sovereign Council of Transition, Ali Al-Sadiq, with whom he discussed the latest developments in regional politics and security, and in particular the issue related to the Ethiopian GERD dam.
Ambassador Yibeltal especially asked Minister Al-Sadiq to facilitate the reopening of the Metema-Galabat border post in order to facilitate the resumption of bilateral dialogue between the two countries. The Metema-Galabat border post represents an important transit point for regional trade and, above all, for the entry into Ethiopia of the many Ethiopians who work in Sudan in the agricultural sector.
Sudan has long introduced a transit tax to discourage the employment of cross-border workers, but Ethiopian Ambassador Yibeltal laments how the same tax has affected the many resident workers who only periodically return to Ethiopia.
On the issue of the GERD dam, instead, the Ethiopian ambassador has expressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan the full availability of Ethiopia to resume dialogue on the disputed issues, especially with Egypt.
On the issue of GERD and the crisis in the region of Al Fashaga, the Ethiopian ambassador wanted to emphasize his belief in a positive resumption of bilateral dialogue, thus indirectly confirming the success of the recent mission to Addis Ababa of the vice-president of the Sovereign Council of Transition, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who went to Ethiopia on January 22 and 23 to meet the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The last January meetings were held in the utmost secrecy, although both sides had indirectly expressed moderate satisfaction, suggesting the possibility of resumption of bilateral dialogue on the many factors of crisis that have emerged over the past year.
