Quotes by Meles Zenawi

“What the implications of this will be in terms of relations between Ethiopia and the European Union, we will have to wait and see but I dont think you will be surprised if Ethiopia were to insist that it should not be patronised,”

“What the implications of this will be in terms of relations between Ethiopia and the EU we will have to wait and see. But I dont think you will be surprised if Ethiopia were to insist that it should not be patronised.”

“The EU report speaks for itself. The statement in my view shows that the mission has turned out to be something worse than a farce, ... We shall in the coming days and weeks see what we can do to expose the pack of lies and innuendoes that characterise the garbage in this report.”

“We have taken measures and beefed up our defense capabilities around the border since December to prevent any miscalculation by the other side,”

“We are aware of the buildup in TSZ. The scale has increased in recent days and this is a matter of concern to us,”

“I regret the deaths but these were not normal demonstrations. You dont see hand grenades thrown at normal demonstrations,”

“We shall negotiate while we fight and we shall fight while we negotiate,”

“We shall negotiate while fighting. We shall fight while negotiating, ... Whichever road leads to peace quickly will be the road we follow.”

“We have no intention of playing fast and loose with this document, with the OAU process, ... We only hope that this time around the other side really means what it says.”

“What we have is a pattern of prevarication, a pattern of trying to draw out the process and consolidate the hold on our territory, ... If thats the case -- and it appears to be the case -- then the opportunities for resolving this problem peacefully could be fast disappearing.”

“The violence has marred the image of Ethiopia, ... The worst is clearly behind us and we do not expect any such violence in the near future.”

“The CUD (Coalition for Unity and Democracy) leaders are engaged in insurrection -- that is an act of treason under Ethiopian law. They will be charged and they will appear in court, ”

“What we have detained is people who have tried to overthrow the duly constituted government, and that in my view is treason under the laws of the country,”

“Its true we have our disagreements on border issues, we have disagreements on trade and related issues, but you dont go invading a country whenever you have a dispute on trade issues, ... We have more civilized mechanisms on resolving such problems.”

“Since these individuals are people who have been openly trying to change the constitutional order through force and street violence, they can use the parliamentary immunity as a cover-up to topple the constitution itself, ... Thus it is imperative to lift this cover-up immediately to ensure the countrys peace and stability.”

“I have no problem talking to anybody so long as it helps the purpose of peace.”

“We regret the death but it was not a normal demonstration,”

“The CUD is responsible for the damage and loss of life that has occurred in the capital in the last three days,”

“The (CUD) officials who have been arrested will be taken to court, ... They are responsible for all these things.”

“the Ethiopian government is looking all matters with utmost patience.”