Ethiopia, Sudan Discuss Metema-Gelabat Border Reopening
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s top diplomat in Khartoum and acting foreign minister of Sudan discussed reopening the Metema-Gelabat border.
The discussion, between Ambassador Yibletal Aemero and Foreign Minister Ali Al Sadiq Ali, took place on Wednesday, February 9, 2022.
The Ethiopian Embassy in Khartoum said the two sides spoke about various bilateral and regional issues, and agreed on the need for strengthening the historic relations between Ethiopia and Sudan.
To this end, it said Ambassador Yibeltal underscored the need for the two sisterly countries to work very closely to address their differences on issues related to their Border and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
He also requested to Sudanese FM the reopening of Metema-Gelabat Border crossing as well as the waiver/reduction of exit visa fees for Ethiopians.
In response, Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ali stated he would work for the reopening of the Metema-Gelabat border crossing and address issues related to exit visa fees for Ethiopians, the Embassy said.
The discussions concluded with the parties agreeing to continue efforts to further strengthen the strategic bilateral ties and to work very closely in resolving the differences on the GERD and border issues through dialogue, the Embassy added.
The Metema-Galabat border crossing has been closed since April 3, 2021, according to reports. The land boundary between the two countries extends for 753 km from the tripoint with Eritrea in the north to the tripoint with South Sudan.
Featured Image: Metema – one of Ethiopia’s border crossing points with Sudan – is a district located about 900 km northwest of Addis Ababa.[photo File/bbc]
