Ethiopia's new Foreign Affairs chief starts work, Russian peer felicitates

Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has congratulated his Ethiopian counterpart, Workneh Gebeyehu, who officially took office on Monday (November 8).

Gebeyehu was appointment as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia in the latest reschuffle by the Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, exactly a week ago.

The Russian Embassy in Ethiopia through its official twitter handle stated that Lavrov had congratulated Gebeyehu on his latest appointment. He replaces Tedros Adhanom, who is gunning to become World Health Organization (WHO) boss.

Russian Foreign Minister #Lavrov congratulated Workneh Gebeyehu on his appointment as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia pic.twitter.com/isWxr8A10G

— Russian Emb Ethiopia (@RusEmbEthiopia) November 7, 2016

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu arrived at the Foreign Affairs’ headquarters on Monday morning to officially commence work as Ethiopia’s topmost diplomat.

The new minister held a meeting with his predecessor before meeting other key members of the ministry. He will be expected to steer Ethiopia’s diplomatic efforts in a time when the country is at the heart of an anti-government protest that has led to a 6-month state of emergency.

Gebeyehu also received pledge and support of his staff to work with renewed commitment and responsibility. The State Ministers and Director Generals also thanked the outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, for his tenure in Ethiopia’s diplomatic ventures.