MPs Ratify Defense Cooperation Pacts with France, Italy

ADDIS ABABA – Members of the lower house of Ethiopian parliament on Tuesday approved two military cooperation agreements signed with France and Italy.

The Abiy Ahmed administration signed both military pacts in the year 2019, which provide legal frameworks for developing security and defense cooperation with the two European countries.

State Minister of Defense, Getachew Hailemariam, explained the benefits of developing bilateral cooperation with the two European nations to the MPs attending the house’s 16th regular session of the year.

The state minister hailed the two European countries as having the best experience in the field of Military.

He also said the pacts are the result of several discussions and will have a major impact in increasing Ethiopia’s military capacity.

MPs welcomed the agreements and approved the cooperation pact bills unanimously.

The agreement with Rome was signed during Italian Minister of Defense visit to Addis Ababa in April, 2019.

It aims to boost military and security cooperation between the two nations, according to information found in the website of Italy’s embassy to Ethiopia, according to information found in the Website of Italy’s embassy in Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa and Paris, on the other hand, signed the accord during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Ethiopia in March 2019, that will allow sending French troops to Ethiopia and vice versa.

“This unprecedented defense cooperation agreement provides a framework… and notably opens the way for France to assist in establishing an Ethiopian naval component,” Macron said during his press briefing in Addis Ababa.