Eritrea reopens embassy in Addis Ababa in fresh sign of thaw with Ethiopia

(Reuters) – Eritrea reopened its embassy in Ethiopia on Monday in further evidence of a rapid thaw between 2 countries that a week ago ended 2 decades of military stalemate after a border war.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki re-opened the embassy in the capital Addis Ababa in a brief ceremony.

One week ago the leaders declared their “state of war” over and Isaias spent the weekend in Ethiopia.

The leaders jointly raised the Eritrean flag inside a newly refurbished embassy as a military band played Eritrea’s anthem. They then toured the building and looked at its furniture and 2 rusting cars that belonged to Eritrea’s last ambassador.

The Eritrean leader arrived in Addis Ababa for a 3-day visit on Saturday and thousands lined the Ethiopian capital’s main thoroughfare Bole Road, sporting T-shirts emblazoned with the pictures of both countries’ leaders.

The visit comes just days after Abiy visited Eritrea and signed a pact with Isaias on resuming ties, a move that ended a near 20-year military standoff after a border war.

Eritrea formally seceded from Ethiopia in 1993 after a long battle for independence, but the 2 fought a border war in 1998. A peace deal was signed 2 years later but Ethiopia refused to implement it, saying it wanted more talks.