Slovenia officially opens embassy in Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, 1 November - Slovenia's embassy in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the third Slovenian diplomatic post in Africa with a resident ambassador, was officially opened on Friday as Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon paid a visit to the country.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopa
Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon (left) officially inaugurates the Slovenian embassy in Ethiopia alongside Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timotheos (left) and Ambassador Kristina Ratej.
Photo: courtesy of the Foreign Ministry
Addis Ababa, Ethiopa
Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon officially inaugurates the Slovenian embassy in Ethiopia.
Photo: courtesy of the Foreign Ministry
"I am satisfied that we have opted to open an embassy in Addis Ababa, which marks a new milestone in Slovenian-Ethiopian relations," Fajon said as she inaugurated the embassy along with her Ethiopian counterpart Gedion Timotheos and Ambassador Kristina Ratej.
She noted that this was the country's first embassy in sub-Saharan Africa and that Slovenia wished to make it into a "development embassy".
"We see lot of opportunity in this, from apitourism to technology transfer, artificial intelligence, sustainable tourism and tourism. I'm convinced that we can learn from each other and transfer knowledge and experience," she was quoted as saying by the Foreign Ministry.
She hopes Ethiopia will consider opening an embassy in Slovenia as well.
Talks with Minister Timotheos focused on ways to strengthen bilateral ties in agriculture, food safety, artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and water energy, and the prospect of training Ethiopian nationals in Slovenia as part of development cooperation.
The ministers also discussed the security situation in the Horn, according to the Foreign Ministry, which said Slovenia was actively involved in the international community's efforts to preserve stability in the region as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Ethiopia was the first stop on Fajon's tour of Africa, during which she will also visit Somalia and Kenya. She had visited the country once before, in 2023, when Slovenia was soliciting support for its UN Security Council bid.
Slovenia currently has 61 diplomatic outposts around the world, of which 47 embassies. It has three resident ambassadors in Africa: in Algeria, Egypt and Ethiopia. The embassy in Addis Ababa has been operating since May this year.