French and German diplomatic chiefs to visit Ethiopia next week

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced Thursday that she would travel to Ethiopia next week with her German counterpart Annalena Baerbock "to consolidate peace", after the agreement signed on November 2 between the government and Tigrayan rebels.

"I will be going next week with my colleague and friend Annalena Baerbock to Africa, to Ethiopia," Colonna told LCI television.

"We will travel together to consolidate the peace agreement that has finally been reached" to end the war that ravaged northern Ethiopia for two years "and to support the action of the African Union,” she added.

The peace agreement provides in particular for the disarmament of rebel forces, the restoration of federal authority in Tigray and the reopening of access and communications to this isolated region since mid-2021.

A diplomatic source told AFP that the visit of the two heads of diplomacy would take place on January 12 and 13. 

They will also discuss food security as well as relations between Ethiopia and the European Union, as well as relations between the EU and the African Union, according to the same source.