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 Ethiopia |  Italy |
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Ethiopia–Italy relations are thecurrent and historical relations betweenEthiopia andItaly.
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Modern Italiancolonial ambitions into Ethiopia began in the 1880s.[1] This was eventually followed by theItalo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889, in which Italy occupied the Ethiopian territory in present-day Eritrea, founding the colony ofItalian Eritrea. Years later, the disputedTreaty of Wuchale led to theFirst Italo-Ethiopian War between 1894 and 1896, where the Ethiopians (supported by Russia and France) successfully fought off European expansion. The peace of Addis Ababa after the defeat of the Italian troops in Adua in 1896, was the beginning of the Ethiopian independence. The Ethiopian territory included the territory conquered byMenelik II and the borders were agreed with the major regional powers:France,Great Britain andEgypt. Moreover, a series of Treaties regulated the relations with Italy, which established the borders betweenEthiopia andEritrea as well asSomalia. However, some territories belonged toSomalia for an ethnic reason, so the fact thatEthiopia had occupied and incorporated them caused tensions in the regional relations. The emperorHaile Selassie, who was the crown prince since 1916 and succeeded to the throne in 1930, strengthened the international legitimisation of Ethiopia, by implementing an open-door policy, which was established with the entry in theLeague of the Nations of Ethiopia in 1923.[2]
FollowingWorld War I and the rise ofItalian Fascism, theAbyssinia Crisis began, and eventually culminated in the 1935–1936Second Italo-Ethiopian War.[3]Ethiopia was invaded in 1935 by the Italian troops, who reachedAddis Ababa on 5 May 1936. It was a brutal conflict: the Ethiopians used prohibitedDum-dum bullets and began mutilating captured soldiers (often with castration) since the first weeks of war, while the Italians usedchemical warfare.[4] Ethiopia lost its independence and becameItalian Ethiopia, part ofItalian East Africa.[5] During the period of the Italian occupation,Ethiopia was divided into six regions:Eritrea which expanded in part ofTigray Region,Amhara Region (Begemder, Wallo,Gojjam and northern Scioa),Galla-Sidamo,Addis Ababa,Harar andSomalia, which included theOgaden region. The territorial breakdown was aimed at reducing and controlling the hegemonic power ofAmhara people, by using the autonomist tendencies of the other regions. The Italian occupation was characterised by investments in infrastructures aimed to establish a future agricultural and entrepreneurial colonisation.[6]
Italy eventually lost its colonies in the region. Following years of local resistance and the intervention ofBritish troops during theEast African Campaign ofWorld War II, scattered Italian forces continued to fight in aguerrilla war, until the final surrender in 1943.[7] Ethiopia regained its independence from Italy in 1947.[8]
After independence, manyItalian settlers remained for decades after receiving full pardon by Emperor Selassie. However, due to theEthiopian Civil War in 1974, nearly 22,000 Italo-Ethiopians left the country.[9]
Ethiopia has the largest concentration of Italian schools and cultural institutes in Africa (such as theScuola Statale Italiana of Addis Abeba), which foster and promote Italian and Ethiopian culture and are free to the public.[10]
The Italian firmSalini Costruttori was chosen by the Ethiopian government to design and build the Millennium orRenaissance Dam on theBlue Nile river, which when completed will be the largest dam and hydroelectric plant in Africa.[11] As the Italian engineers had helped to build the first railway from Addis to Djibouti in the past, the Ethiopian government has contracted them again to expand the railroad network along with India and China.[12]
For the last 20 years, Italy has continued to be among the top 5 trading partners with Ethiopia and a major investor in the Ethiopian economy.[13]
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The relations between Ethiopia and Italy[14] in the field of political, security and economic cooperation have been good in recent years. In 2015, the at the timeforeign ministerPaolo Gentiloni andPrime minister visitedAddis Ababa on a state visit. This was proceeded by another visit in 2016 by thePresident of the Republic,Sergio Mattarella.Ethiopia has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Italian initiatives in Africa.[15]
Currently,Italy ranks amongEthiopia's top trade partners, eighth supplier at global level, first atEuropean level (in the first months of 2018), in fact many Italian companies are involved in the current work of modernisation ofEthiopia, while as far asItalian Export is concerned,Ethiopia ranks fourth as destination market inSub-Saharan Africa.[16]
On 10 April 2019, an important agreement between theGovernment of the Italian Republic[17] and theGovernment of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, focused oncooperation in the defence sector, was concluded inAddis Ababa, entitled: "Ratification and implementation of the Agreement between the Government of the Italian Republic and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on cooperation in the field of defence, done at Addis Ababa on 10 april 2019".
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on cooperation in the field of defence, done at Addis Ababa on 10 April 2019" on Government initiative (in Italian language "Accordo tra il Governo della Repubblica italiana e il Governo della Repubblica democratica federale di Etiopia sulla cooperazione nel settore della difesa").
During her official visit to Ethiopia, Italian Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni was greeted by jubilant crowds, some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with her face, as she walked through the streets to a reception ceremony in Addis Ababa.[18]
Theratification of the agreement initialled in 2019 between theGovernment of the Republic of Italy and theGovernment of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on cooperation in the field of defence consists of four articles, the first two authorising ratification and ordering the Agreement.
Article 3 deals with the coverage of charges attributable to the provisions of Article 4 which is dedicated to the modalities of cooperation, which provided:
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