The EU’s Entry Point into the Post-Tigray War Context

JOINT Brief nº 29 (September 2023)

Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) made a rational choice when they ended their two-year civil war through the signing of the Pretoria agreement in November 2022. As the peace deal nears its first anniversary, critical issues remain unresolved. These include the perception by the Tigrayan side that the cessation of hostilities was nothing short of a surrender; the difficulties in effectively demobilising and reintegrating Tigrayan combatants into national forces; and the proliferation of weapons in the country. These are red flags that too often evade public and policymakers’ attention. Excluded from the process that led to the Pretoria agreement, the EU could focus on these “red flag” issues to reinsert itself into Ethiopia’s post-conflict stabilisation process, in the process rebooting its relations with Addis Ababa.Jesutimilehin O. Akamo is the Coordinator of the Research and Policy Analysis Unit at the Africa Peace and Security Programme (APSP) of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa University. Theodros Fisseha is a PhD student at IPSS.