“The role of the international community should be to create conditions for Ethiopians to solve their own problems.” US Ambassador to the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo praised Ethiopia’s efforts to get out of the current crisis but said Ethiopians would not succumb to external pressure.
He further added that the West alone is not enough to solve the Ethiopian problem and that China and the Middle East should be part of the solution.
During a meeting with VOA’s Carol Castio, both US diplomats noted that racial federalism in Ethiopia was the root cause of Ethiopia’s current problems. He recalled that the TPLF government, which came to power following the fall of the Derg, had introduced this system, but it did not work in Ethiopia.
He said the current crisis in Ethiopia is exacerbated by the use of race by political leaders to gain the support of the people.
He said the political improvements he had made since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power were significant in Ethiopia’s history.
.Ambassador Najm condemned Eritrea’s role in allowing the Ethiopian government to intervene in response to the TPLF’s attack on the Ethiopian Defense Forces.
Emphasizing that the negative and constructive role of Ethiopians living abroad is contributing to the internal conflict, the diplomats said Ethiopians must sit down and discuss their future if the problem in Ethiopia is to be resolved from the bottom up. He urged the international community outside Ethiopia to help the people solve their problems on their own, instead of setting the direction they think should be for Ethiopia.
