The democratization process in Ethiopia will help to further enhance its diplomacy, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Meles Alem said.

 Ensuring peace and security, strengthening democracy, and fighting poverty are the major pillars of the Ethiopian foreign policy and strategy, the Spokesperson recalled.

 Democracy is the basis for effective implementation of foreign policy, the Spokesperson added.

In an Exclusive interview with ENA, Meles said full implementation of the foreign policy and strategy is not attainable in the absence of strong, participatory, and democratic culture.

“…Full implementation of the foreign policy is not attainable in the absence of strong, participatory, and democratic culture,” he stressed.

The basis for implementation of foreign policy always relies on major developments at home, according to the Spokesperson.

According to Meles, the foreign relations and diplomatic interaction of Ethiopia highly relies on its domestic policy.

“The development of democracy and diplomacy are complementary. In the absence of democracy at home, conflict and instability will prevail. In the absence of democracy peace cannot be contemplated and also development. So they (democracy and diplomacy) are intertwined”, the Spokesperson elaborated.

The Ethiopian government is trying its level best to expand the political space in the country, he added.

“We have election every five years. We have quite good number of political parties in the country which represent various opinions. In our view, democracy is indispensable and it is very important,” Meles elaborated.

Furthermore, he underscored that democratization is a question of survival for a country like Ethiopia with multiple languages and composed of a number of different religions.

Having good foreign relations with other countries could in turn contribute positively to the nation’s democratization process, he stated.

“For Ethiopia to ensure a very successful foreign policy and diplomacy, participatory and home grown democracy is very important. We have the longest democratic culture in the world, the Abba Geda system. We have home grown democracy that is tied with the cultures and values of the country”, Meles further elaborated.

Foreign Policy Analysis Department Head at the Ethiopian Foreign Relations Strategic Studies Research Institute, Melaku Mulualem said the development of democracy has helped the development of diplomacy.

The Head underlined that “without democratic governance it is difficult to have good diplomatic relationship with other countries.”

The development of democracy in Ethiopia has contributed a lot to the improvement of its foreign relations with other countries as well, Melaku added.

According to him, one of the requests countries make upon establishing foreign relations with other countries is the existence of democratic governance in that country.

Melaku noted that “the development of democracy in Ethiopia would therefore enhance its foreign relations with developed countries and other countries.”

 It is to be recalled that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has told ENA in a recent interview that the formulation of viable and multi-sectoral policies and their successful and sustained implementation has won Ethiopia acclamation and respect from the international community.