EU seeking to repair political upset with Ethiopia

EU seeking to repair political upset with Ethiopia
AFPFebruary 16, 2006
ADDIS ABABA -- A senior European Union (EU) official was in Ethiopia on Thursday for talks aimed at improving ties strained by political turbulence that has rocked the Horn of Africa nation in recent months. The two-day visit by Louis Michel, the EU aid and development commissioner, comes after the bloc angered the government late last year by moving to re-program hundreds of millions of euros in aid over democracy concerns. "The purpose of his visit is to try to restart political dialogue with all the political actors in Ethiopia," Michel's spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said. The commissioner is to see top Ethiopian officials, including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, as well as jailed opposition leaders arrested in a crackdown on dissent following disputed elections last May. The opposition claims the May 15 polls were stolen by Meles' ruling party and staged protests against the alleged fraud in June and November that erupted into street violence in which 84 people were killed, many by police. The second explosion led to arrests of thousands, of which a main group of 131 people, including journalists and nearly the entire leadership of the main opposition party, face treason and other serious charges. They are accused of conspiring to foment a coup to oust Meles' government, which has been in power since 1991. The government's handling of the post-election period, particularly its use of deadly force to quell the demonstrations and the mass arrests, have raised international concerns about the state of Ethiopia's democracy. The EU has been especially vocal in its criticism and in December said it would re-program 316 million euros ($375 million) in direct multilateral aid to Meles' government to humanitarian projects. The move has sparked anger in Addis Ababa, where officials had already objected to an assessment of the May polls by EU election observers that found the process had fallen far short of international standards.