Five months after Ethiopia and Eritrea officially ended a two-decade old stalemate and somewhat restored normalcy in relations, President Sahle-work Zewde received a credentials letter of the newly appointed Eritrean head of mission, Semere Russom at the National Palace on Thursday.
Semere came to Ethiopia four months ago following the restored relations with the signing of a joint declaration of Peace and Friendship agreement in Asmara last July.
He has been a prominent figure in the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front since 1976.
President Sahle-work said that she was pleased to receive the letters of credence noting that it was her first since she took office as President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
After Eritrea’s independence, Semere has served as the Eritrean Ambassador to the United States and Canada. Afterwards, he continued his career in public service as Director of European Affairs in Eritrea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 2001. He has served as the Mayor of Asmara, and later as a head of the Ministry of Education.
It is also to be recalled that Ethiopia, in its part, appointed Redwan Hussein as its Ambassador to Eritrea, who as well, presented his credentials to the Eritrean Foreign Minister, Osman Salah in October.
Alongside the Eritrean diplomat, the President has also received four more credentials including from Somalia, Egypt, Tunisia and Thailand.
