PRESS STATEMENT ON ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is the text of today’s statement by the President of the Security Council, Richard Ryan (Ireland):

Members of the Security Council heard a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General Hedi Annabi, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, regarding the situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea and notes with concern that the United Nations Mission on Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) is experiencing increasing difficulties in its operations in the Temporary Security Zone and in adjacent areas north of the Zone.

Members of the Security Council call on the parties to further engage in constructive dialogue within the framework of the Military Coordination Commission (MCC) to facilitate UNMEE’s work, including through any further consideration by the Government of Eritrea regarding the possibility of establishing sectoral MCCs.

Members of the Security Council note with concern that the parties have not yet resolved the issue of the air corridor between Addis Ababa and Asmara and call on the parties to resolve this issue as a matter of urgency.

Members of the Security Council express their determination to monitor closely political developments in the region with the view to assessing possible impacts on the peace process and all will remain actively seized of the matter.

* *** *