EU announces new aid package to Ethiopia, the first since the war in the Tigray region ended

The European Union has pledged assistance worth 650 million euros to Ethiopia, nearly three years after it cut direct aid to the East African country over atrocities committed in a bloody civil war. Jutta Urpilainen, the EU commissioner for international partnerships, announced the agreement during a press conference with Ethiopian Finance Minister Ahmed Side in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, on Tuesday. “It is time to gradually normalize relations and rebuild a mutually reinforcing partnership with your country,” said Urpilainen, describing the aid package as “the first concrete step” in this process after a cease-fire ended the war last November.