STOCKHOLM, October 11. /TASS/. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 was awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed "for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea." Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Berit Reiss-Andersen said about it on Friday.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea," Reiss-Andersen said. "The prize is also meant to recognize all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions," she added.

Abiy Ahmed became Ethiopia’s Prime Minister in April 2018. He declared that he wants to renew peace talks with Eritrea. In close cooperation with Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki, Ahmed worked out principles of peace treaty to bring the two countries from the dead-end of "neither peace nor war," the Norwegian Nobel Committee explained. These principles are enshrined in the declarations that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Isaias Afwerki signed in July and September last year. "An important premise for the breakthrough was Abiy Ahmed’s unconditional willingness to accept the arbitration ruling of an international boundary commission in 2002," the committee’s decision reads.

"Peace does not arise from the actions of one party alone. When Prime Minister Abiy reached out his hand, President Afwerki grasped it, and helped to formalize the peace process between the two countries. The Norwegian Nobel Committee hopes the peace agreement will help to bring about positive change for the entire populations of Ethiopia and Eritrea," the statement says.