Ministry Denounces US Visa Restrictions, Sanctions

The Ethiopian Ministry of foreign Affairs called the decision ‘ill-advised measure to unnecessarily overshadow the elections’, in a statement released on May 24, 2021. US president Joe Biden’s administration restricted economic and security assistance to Ethiopia, followed by visa restrictions on Ethiopian and Eritrean officials in relation with the six months military
operation in Tigray region of Ethiopia.

‘It should be understood that the Ethiopian government cannot be compelled to sit down and negotiate with the TPLF, which has already been labelled as a terrorist organization, and any sort of attempt to resuscitate the terrorist group would be counterproductive and untenable,’ reads the statement. ‘If such a resolve to meddle in our internal affairs and undermining the century-old bilateral ties continues unabated, the government of FDRE will be forced to reassess its relationship with the US, which might have implications beyond our bilateral relationships.