Security Council calls on Ethiopia and Eritrea to resolve boundary dispute

The Security Council today urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to implement without delay a 2002 ruling on the delimitation of their common border, stressing the need for the two African neighbours to settle their disagreements peacefully.

In a statement read out by Ambassador Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia, which holds the rotating Council presidency this month, the 15-member body urged the parties to take concrete steps to implement immediately and without preconditions the delimitation decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, as well as the Algiers Agreements which ended the war between the two countries.

“The Security Council calls upon the parties to refrain from using force and to settle their disagreements by peaceful means, to normalize their relations, to promote stability between them and to lay the foundation for sustainable peace in the region,” the statement added.

The continuing tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the failure to resolve their longstanding boundary dispute and the military build-up along their common border were cited as causes for serious concern by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a recent report.

“There is no other option but for the two parties to find common ground that would allow the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission to proceed with the demarcation of the border,” Mr. Ban stated.

He noted that even as Ethiopia says that it has accepted the 2002 border delimitation decision without preconditions, the country continues to assert that the security conditions for demarcation of the border do not exist.

“I urge the parties to extend full cooperation to the Commission, without further delay, with a view to proceeding to the boundary demarcation on the basis of the Commission’s 2002 delimitation decision,” he said.