Click to expand Image Jozef Síkela (left), EU commissioner for international partnerships, meets with Ethiopia’s minister of foreign affairs, Gedion Timothewos, in Addis Ababa, April 20, 2026. © 2026 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia European Union Partnership Commissioner Jozef Sikela announced on April 21 the resumption of EU’s direct budget support to the Ethiopian government: the final step towards normalizing relations with the country. The move comes as Ethiopia’s dire human rights situation has deteriorated ahead of June 1 national elections. The EU initially suspended its direct budget support to Ethiopia in 2020 amid the war in northern Ethiopia, which was marked by ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, large-scale massacres, and widespread sexual violence. The November 2022 truce never completely ended grave abuses in the Tigray region: violations continued during the conflicts in Amhara and parts of Oromia.…