OSLO - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his peacemaking efforts with Eritrea.
Ethiopia and Eritrea, longtime foes who fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, restored relations in July 2018 after years of hostility.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairwoman of the five-member Norwegian Nobel Institute that awards the Nobel Peace Prize said Ahmed was named for his moves to end his country's conflict with next door Eritrea within months of coming to office in 2018. He signed a “Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship,”' with Eritrean
Within the Nobel Peace Prize there is a long history of prizes going to statesmen associated with ending conflicts, most recently Colombia's Juan Manuel Santos who was awarded the prize in 2016 for helping to bring his country's 50 year civil war to an end.
The prize, worth 9 million Swedish crowns, or around $900,000, will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.