Abiy responds to Trump’s Nobel comments

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, has responded to comments made by Donald Trump last week in which the US President made clear he should have been awarded the coveted peace prize.

When asked about President Trump’s remarks by a reporter in Pretoria, South Africa, Mr Abiy said he didn’t have “any clue about the criteria, how the Nobel Committee selects an individual for the prize”.

He further added that if Mr Trump wanted to complain about who was given the award, he should go to Oslo, where the Nobel Committee is based, not Ethiopia.

Mr Abiy said he was not working for prizes, but for peace, “a very critical thing in our region”.

The Prime Minister was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2019 for his efforts to bring an end to the border conflict between Ethiopia and neighbouring Eritrea.

However, at an election rally in Toldeo, Ohio last week, Mr Trump told supporters “I made a deal, I saved a country and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving that country.

“I said: ‘What, did I have something to do with it?’ Yeah, but you know, that’s the way it is.  As long as we know, that’s all that matters… I saved a big war, I’ve saved a couple of them”.

Despite Mr Trump not specifically mentioning either Ethiopia or Mr Abiy by name, the Ethiopian PM is the only head of state to have been awarded the prize since Mr Trump came to office.

Photo credit: AFP