Ethiopia: Difficult Way to Peace

Abstract

Article for the first time analyzes in detail the complex situation in Ethiopia from 2020 when the political elite of the Tigray under the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) started the war against the Ethiopian federal government. The author characterizes the causes of the conflict and the balance of power. In 1991 the new political system – the ethnic federalism – was introduced in Ethiopia. As the consequence, for 27 years the power in the country was monopolized by the Tigray. The protests’ movements which began in 2015 resulted in the change of the political regime. In the 2018 a new premier-minister Abiyu Ahmed came to power. This meant the end of the Tigray rule. But the Tigray elite and the TPLF didn’t accepted defeat. On the 2nd of November 2020 it started the war against the federal government. The war lasted for two years. Hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers were killed, economy, medical and educational facilities in the states Tigray, Amhara and Afar were destroyed. And, what is most important, the interethnic relations enormously deteriorated. On the 2nd of November 2022 in Pretoria an Agreement was signed between the TPLF and the federal government. In the March 2023 in Tigray Interim Government was introduced. But it will take a lot of time and efforts to heal all wounds.