Russian
& East German Documents on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, 1977-78
Memorandum
of Conversation between Soviet Ambassador to Ethiopia A.P. Ratanov and Ethiopian
Foreign Minister Felleke Gedle Giorgis,
14 September 1977
TOP
SECRET, Copy No. 2
From
the journal of 29 September 1977
Ratanov,
A.P. Original No.
354
Memorandum
of Conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, FELLEKE
GEDLE GIORGIS
14
September 1977
On 14 September of this year, the Soviet delegation
taking part in the celebrations of the occasion of the third anniversary of
the Ethiopian revolution (comrade Yezhov, I.M.) had a meeting with Felleke
Gedle-Giorgis.
During the course of a detailed conversation, after
expressing his deep recognition to the Soviet Union for its comprehensive
support and assistance to Ethiopia, the minister made the following statements:
Considering the extremely difficult situation in
Ethiopia, particularly in connection with the military intervention by Somalia,
the Ethiopian government is taking and will take measures which will aim to
strengthen cooperation with states that support Ethiopia, to receive support
from conservative regimes, and even to divide those states, including Arab
states, which are openly hostile to the Ethiopian revolution. As a long-term
goal, Ethiopia will even aim to restore contacts with Syria, Iraq, Sudan,
et al.
As a whole, the positions of the overwhelming majority
of the member-states of the OAU are favorable to Ethiopia as far as maintaining
its territorial integrity is concerned, although many African states are not
reconciled to the Ethiopian revolution and its socialist orientation.
The OAU and the Committee created to provide good offices for the resolution
of the Somali-Ethiopian military conflict continue their efforts to end it
and come out on the side of Ethiopia. However, Sudan blocks their activities.
The position of Sudan is very duplicitous now:
on the one hand, Sudan actively supports Eritrean separatism, on the other
hand, it fears that in case of some form of secession by Eritrea, this would
create a dangerous precedent which could encourage separatism in southern
Sudan. Therefore Sudan appears to vacillate and Ethiopia intends to
use this. Under these conditions Egypt encourages intervention by Sudan
in Eritrean affairs and has sent 40,000 men to Sudan to exert influence on
the Sudanese leadership and to show its (Egyptian) support in the event of
the activation of the separatists in southern Sudan. This has enabled
Sudan to send 4,000 of its own soldiers to Eritrea.
Ethiopia intends to activate its ties with the
West European states, particularly with the Scandinavian countries (Sweden,
Finland, et al.), which haven't always formed a bloc with the main imperialist
powers and, for example, took a position favorable to Vietnam during the period
of American aggression. To this end, a mission to the aforementioned
states is contemplated.
About the USA--the USA and other imperialist states
aim to overthrow the Ethiopian regime (the minister claims that the USA has
prepared a plot to do this). Despite this, the minister said, Ethiopia
aims to use the contradictions among the Westerners in the interests of the
Ethiopian revolution, and also the fact that officially the USA and other
Western states have come out in support of the territorial integrity of Ethiopia
and [express] the desire to have normal relations with it.
At the same time, the diplomatic activity of the
PMAC will develop cooperation with communist and socialist parties of the
USA and Western Europe (to this end the PMAC invited representatives of the
communist parties of the USA, Italy, and Portugal to take part in the celebrations),
and also with the international democratic, labour, women's and youth organizations
(World Peace Council, Movement of Afro-Asian Solidarity, etc..).
The minister especially dwelled on the Chinese
position on the Ethiopian revolution. At the beginning of the revolution,
the PRC provided economic assistance to Ethiopia, and sent its economic experts.
However, as the Ethiopian revolution deepened, the Chinese began to change
their position, practically rendered comprehensive assistance to Somalia during
the Somali-Ethiopian military conflict, and, it seems, intends to give it
(Somalia) conventional battlefield weapons.
Recognizing the great significance of the diplomatic
activity of the Soviet Union in support of Ethiopia, the minister expressed
the hope that the Soviet Union would continue it in the future, and, in particular,
would use its own friendly relations with Algeria and influence in the Arab
world and with African states, and also with the communist and progressive
organizations in Western, African, and Arab countries.
Felleke Gedle-Giorgis expressed his gratitude for
the clear position of the USSR in the Somali-Ethiopian military conflict.
In light of this, the minister emphasized that Ethiopia does not aim to dismember
Somalia and does not intend to interfere in its internal affairs.
The minister also said that Ethiopia supports the improvement of cooperation
with Somalia. This being said, the Ethiopian government proceeds from
the fact that Somalia has progressive forces, which are also striving for
the restoration of neighborly relations and peaceful cooperation with Ethiopia.
For his part, comrade Yezhov, I.M. and the Soviet
ambassador reaffirmed the position of the Soviet Union on the problem of the
Somali-Ethiopian conflict and directed attention to the necessity of activating
Ethiopia's diplomatic efforts in various countries. They reminded the
minister of the diplomatic steps taken by the Soviet Union in support of Ethiopia
(demarches towards the leaders of Somalia, a range of Arab states, et al.).
AMBASSADOR
OF THE USSR
TO
SOCIALIST ETHIOPIA
/s/
A. Ratanov
[Source:
TsKhSD, f. 5, op. 73, d. 1636, ll. 135-138; translated by Elizabeth Wishnick.]
