REPORT TO THE NATION
…. Seven weeks ago, We left Ethiopia to travel to Sudan, the United
States of America, Canada, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Algeria, France, Tunisia,
Yugoslavia and the United Arab Republic. Past visits to friendly nations have persuaded
Us of the value of the personal contacts between leaders which such occasions
afford, and Our most recent travels have only reconfirmed Us in this belief. At
every hand, We were met with that warmth and friendship which is the best
testimony of the regard and respect in which Our nation is uniformly held by
those whom we call friends. Each one of us shares in the success which attended
the talks We held with the leaders of these nations, for We spoke always on
behalf of the nation which We lead and the people who have been such an
unfailing source of strength and support in the discharge of the arduous
responsibilities which have fallen to Our lot.
In the United States of America, We found continued appreciation and
sympathy for the efforts which Our Government and people are making to speed
the development of Ethiopia, and We came away reassured by Our talks with
President Kennedy that the United States would continue to extend generous
support to these labours in the form of concrete projects contributing still
further to Our nation’s economic and social health. In New York, We had
occasion to address the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization, an
occasion which recalled the most painful days of Our life but which also
brought to mind the loyalty and steadfastness of the great Ethiopian people
through whose efforts Ethiopia is today a free and independent state. We left
the United Nations Headquarters reconfirmed in Our belief that this
Organization, as We stated to the General Assembly, represents the best, and
perhaps the last, hope for peace in the modern world.
Africa Visits
On Our visits to sister African states, We met and talked with Our good
friends, President Sekou Toure in Guinea, President Modibo Keita in Mali, King
Hassan II in Morocco, President Ahmed Ben Bella in Algeria and President Habib
Bourguiba in Tunisia. During these conversations, We were repeatedly struck by
the oneness of purpose demonstrated whenever the issue of the future of Africa
came under consideration. In every African nation We found a uniform
determination to translate the decisions of Addis Ababa into milestones along
the path to the creation of a single and united Africa, and a readiness to make
whatever sacrifices this effort might require. This is indeed a good augury for
the future and for the hopes of the African peoples that the goals which all
Africans seek may be brought to full realization within the lifetime of the
present generation.
In other
nations We exchanged views with respected statesmen whose nations have long
enjoyed friendly relations with Ethiopia – with El Ferik Ibrahim Abboud in
Sudan, with Prime Minister Lester Pearson in Canada, with General de Gaulle in
France, with Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia, with President Gamel Abdul Nasser in
the United Arab Republic. The results of Our talks will be of benefit not only
to Ethiopia, but to all men of goodwill.
Ethiopia has, throughout the past
year, continued to adhere to the traditional policies to which We have on
numerous occasions declared Our nation’s devoted respect for the rights of
others, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, respect for the
territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations, the peaceful settlement of
disputes, support of the principle of collective security as the best
protection against aggression and the best guardian of the peace. These
policies we apply uniformly, whether to a neighbour state with which we share
common frontiers or to a nation half-way round the world. To live in peace and
friendship with all men today, it is only necessary that these principles find
the universal observance which We have so long urged .....
..... Since this day last year,
Ethiopia has taken special pleasure in welcoming to the ranks of independent
states the nations of Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Zanzibar. Our relations with
these new nations whose independence We long and ardently advocated and
supported, are already characterized by that sympathy and that spirit of brotherhood
which constitute a common bond among all Africans, whether already free or
still struggling to attain this happy state. It is this same spirit which has
carried Africa forward in triumph on the crest of the wave in pursuit of the
ideal of African unity, and it remains unflagging today, as We prepare for yet
more vigorous efforts in the battle to win through to this cherished objective.
Desirous
of cementing the bonds of friendship and mutual comprehension which already
unite Ethiopia with her near-neighbors, We travelled during the past year to
Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, where We met
and talked with the leaders of these states and came to know at first hand the
noble peoples of these sister African nations. In each of these countries, We
encountered the same devotion to high principle, the same determination to
labour unceasingly for the cause of peace and the betterment of the way of life
of all men, the same opposition to the evils of continued colonial domination
of our still dependent fellow Africans and of South Africa’s inhuman policy of
apartheid, which are today the hall-mark of wise and responsible statesmanship.
Our visits have brought Ethiopia even closer to her East African neighbors, and
we may take real satisfaction in the strong and enduring ties of friendship
which link us together.
Only two months ago we undertook a
considerable journey from which We only recently returned. In Iran, which We
first visited, We were received by His Majesty the Shah, and in that nation We
found a striking similarity in the problems which are facing both of our
countries today. In Eastern Europe, We visited Poland, Hungary, Rumania and
Bulgaria. Everywhere We were warmly greeted, and the tributes which We received
We consider as a mark of respect and friendship for the entire Ethiopian
nation. In each of these states, We enjoyed frank and cordial exchanges of
views on pressing world problems with their leaders, and everywhere We found an
eager willingness to explore all possible means of increasing contacts with
Ethiopia, particularly in the area of economic co-operation. In the near
future, delegations from these friendly countries will travel to Ethiopia to
discuss the implementation in detail of the agreements in principle reached for
expanded collaboration in the economic and technical fields …..
Nov. 21, 1964.
Selected Speeches of His Imperial Majesty Haile
Selassie - page 97 -
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