ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia’s prime minister said on Wednesday that ending war and expanding economic ties with neighboring Eritrea is critical for stability and development in the impoverished Horn of Africa region.

Abiy Ahmed’s remarks followed the announcement on Tuesday by his ruling coalition that Ethiopia would fully implement a peace deal signed in 2000 and meant to end a two-year war that devolved into a stalemate resulting in huge military build up by both countries.

The pledge would entail ceding a disputed town to Eritrea. [L5N1T81GZ] There was no sign on Wednesday that Ethiopia had begun withdrawing its troops from the town of Badme.

It is one of many policy shifts announced since the 41-year-old took office in early April, moves that could reshape Ethiopia’s relations with its neighbors and have equally dramatic impacts inside the country of 100 million people.

Whether the new measures, including liberalization of the state-controlled economy, end up addressing critical challenges from high youth unemployment to rising government debt remain to be seen. But they are shaking the country up.

“All that we have achieved from the situation of the last 20 years is tension,” Abiy said.

“Neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea benefit from a stalemate. We need to expend all our efforts toward peace and reconciliation and extricate ourselves from petty conflicts and divisions and focus on eliminating poverty.”

Ethiopia’s move is a “drastic departure” from its longstanding – and failed – policy, said Ahmed Soliman, Ethiopia analyst at Chatham House, a London-based thinktank.

“To see some movement is extremely positive. This is the most important latent conflict within the Horn and its resolution is important for peace and security in the region.”

NO COMMENT FROM ERITREA

Eritrea used to be a part of Ethiopia and waged a 30-year struggle for independence. The war on their shared border between 1998 and 2000 killed tens of thousands of people, caused significant displacement and the splintering of families.

Eritrea’s government has not responded publicly to Addis Ababa’s offer of an olive branch late on Tuesday. The two nations cut ties during the war.

Asmara’s Information Minister told Reuters on Tuesday evening he had not seen the Ethiopian government’s statement so could not immediately comment. He did not respond to phone calls on Wednesday.

Eritrea has long said it wants Ethiopia to pull its troops out from the disputed territory before normalizing ties, citing a decision by a boundary commission at The Hague which awarded the village of Badme to Eritrea in 2002.

Asmara has long felt betrayed by world powers, who they say failed to force Ethiopia to abide by the commission ruling.

Ethiopia says the row over border demarcation can only be resolved through a negotiated settlement.

On Tuesday, an Ethiopian foreign ministry official told Reuters that there were “at least 61 attempts” to mediate between the two nations, but that Asmara had rejected all requests.

Russia, the European Union, and Qatar were among those that proposed to mediate in the last two decades, he said.

Abiy said Ethiopia needed to resolve what he seemed to view as a costly and pointless dispute.

“Putting an end to this situation and finding peace is necessary beyond anything else not just for Ethiopia but for the wider Horn of Africa,” he said in a speech in Addis Ababa.

“Every Ethiopian should realize that it is expected of us to be a responsible government that ensures stability in our region, one that takes the initiative to connect the brotherly peoples of both countries and expands trains, buses and economic ties between Asmara and Addis Ababa.”

Diplomats say punitive measures taken against Eritrea may prevent an immediate conclusion to the dispute.

The U.N. Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea in 2009 on charges that Asmara provided political, financial and logistical support to militant groups in Somalia. Eritrea has long dismissed the claims, saying they are concocted by Addis Ababa in a bid to isolate the country and divert attention from Ethiopia’s reluctance to hand over the disputed areas.

“The Eritrean government has always proclaimed its innocence and will demand that the sanctions are promptly lifted. This could be a sticking point for now,” said a Western diplomat in Ethiopia.

(Reuters) - Dozens of women on Tuesday won congressional and gubernatorial nominations as voters in eight U.S. states chose candidates ahead of November’s elections, including several who notched firsts in a year boasting a historic number of female contenders.

But many of those women - particularly Democrats - will face tough contests in November. They will be running against entrenched Republican incumbents or in conservative-leaning districts.

“A lot of them are running in pretty competitive primaries but in districts that are ultimately not going to be that competitive in the general election,” said Jennifer Lawless, the director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University in Washington, D.C.

A record number of women have filed to run for Congress in the first midterm election since President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, with some saying they are motivated by criticisms of his treatment of women and by the ongoing #MeToo movement that has targeted sexual misconduct.

They have outperformed men in U.S. House of Representatives races so far, driven almost entirely by Democrats, according to data compiled by Kelly Dittmar, a professor with the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Women made up 36 percent of Democratic House candidates but represent 46 percent of the nominees in the 20 states that have held primary elections thus far. That figure does not include California, where some races were still too close to call on Wednesday.

Lawless pointed out that the proportion of women among congressional candidates is only a few points higher than in 2016, given an increase in men running for office as well.

Instead, she said, the major difference this year is among female voters, as well as the attention paid to issues like sexual harassment.

“Democratic women in particular are more energized, more enthusiastic and more engaged than ever before,” she said, citing poll numbers.

Among those who prevailed on Tuesday was Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy pilot and federal prosecutor who is seeking a competitive open seat in northern New Jersey that Democrats have not held in decades.

“We need a seat at the table,” Sherrill said on Wednesday. “We just don’t have a lot of women in politics.”

Democrats must net 23 seats to take control of the 435-seat House in November, which would likely stymie much of Trump’s agenda.

In Iowa, a state that has never elected a woman to the House, Democrats Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne finished ahead of male challengers in two Republican-held districts considered competitive this fall.

Two New Mexico House districts saw women win both the Democratic and Republican primary elections, including Deb Haaland, who could become the first Native American woman elected to Congress.

In Montana, Democrat Kathleen Williams beat two men with much deeper campaign pockets to advance to a key November race against an incumbent House Republican.

The crucial House races in California yielded more mixed results. Katie Porter, a law professor, earned a spot in November’s race against Republican U.S. Representative Mimi Walters, and Katie Hill, a 30-year-old former nonprofit director, appeared poised to take on Republican incumbent Steve Knight. But liberal female challengers in two other key races fell short.

Tuesday’s gains for female candidates were not limited to Democrats. In South Dakota, Iowa and Alabama – three states that have never elected a woman as governor – Republican women won nominations and are favored in November.

Even if women fail to capture many seats in November, Dittmar said their presence on the campaign trail would have a snowball effect.

“I think many of the women’s candidacies in 2018 may have a longer influence in inspiring other women to run,” she said.