EU Fails in Bid for Cease-Fire on Horn

A European Union delegation left Asmara, the Eritrean capital, empty-handed after failing to mediate a cease-fire deal between Eritrea and Ethiopia, diplomats said. Delegation members said the talks had been useful, but diplomats based in Asmara and the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, dismissed the visit and said it had achieved little. “It was a waste of time and money. It didn’t work before. What makes them think it will work this time? It seems more of a political gesture to show that the EU cares,” a senior Western diplomat in Asmara said. The EU delegates held talks with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki after conferring with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin.