Category: Statements

His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council, on the 18th of Säne 2011 (June 25, 2019), issued the following statement on behalf of the Council:

The Ethiopian Crown, along with all Ethiopians, mourns the tragic loss of life which occurred in our family of peoples on the 15th of Säne 2011 (June 22, 2019), and the animosities and responses these killings engendered.

We should by now have rejected the tool of assassination and armed violence to resolve our internal concerns. The Crown, along with the Ethiopian People, also mourns and regrets the fact that mis-trust and fear continue to exist in our society between some of the great nations which make up our beloved Ethiopia.

It is obvious that we have a legacy of some four decades of distrust to overcome. But we must return to the view all Ethiopians have equal rights and opportunities.

We have, since the overthrow of legitimate governance by the Dergue, been subjected to policies which denied us our collective history and legitimacy. These deprived us of our birthrights in many respects. But a year ago we began the path back toward normalcy, prosperity, and greatness, and we cannot now allow distrust to continue to find a place within our ranks.

The Ethiopian Crown stands ready to help arbitrate, if called upon, to help rebuild the bridges between our Ethiopian peoples and regions. We send our condolences to the families of those killed on the 15th of Sane 2011. Let us ensure that we learn from this tragedy, and ensure that our Government safeguards the equal rights of all Ethiopians.

We are stronger together. May God Bless Ethiopia.

A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council

We mourn with all Ethiopians and the international community the tragic loss today of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 on its flight on March 10, 2019, from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya, taking with it 157 souls from 35 countries, including Ethiopia. We particularly mourn for, and with, the families of those passengers and devoted crew who perished.

The accident has a special poignancy because of the incredible efforts which Ethiopian Airlines has made to become the most modern and safest airline in Africa.

We know that the worldwide aviation community will learn lessons from the loss of this new Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliner, and that, as a result, the aviation community and the traveling public will ensure that the loss of the 157 people on Flight ET302 will lead to greater safety for all in the future.

God Bless the families and loved ones of all who perished on ET302, and the souls of the departed.

God Bless Ethiopia!

A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council

It is with great pride that we have seen the achievements of a member of the Ethiopian Community in Australia recognized in the Australia Day Honours, announced on January 26, 2019. Ato Haileluel Gebre-Selassie, of Victoria, Australia, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to the African community of Victoria.

He was, in June 2017, also made a Member of the Order of the Star of Honour of Ethiopia (MSE) by the Ethiopian Crown in recognition for his decades of outstanding leadership within the Ethiopian and African communities of Australia, and for his pioneering work in aiding the establishment of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Australia. I was pleased to have been able to personally invest Ato Haileluel with his MSE during the Crown’s Commemorative Tour of Australia in 2017.

The Crown Council of Ethiopia profoundly congratulates Haileluel Gebre-Selassie on his award of the OAM. He and his fellow Ethiopians of the diaspora have demonstrated the great contributions of Ethiopians to communities around the world. Haileluel typifies those many Ethiopians who, during the four decades of the interregnum, have maintained the unique dignity and sense of our People, in the face of many privations.

They have kept alive the spirit of Ethiopianness while embracing their host countries around the world, contributing not only to their host nations, but also repatriating invaluable financial and moral sustenance to their homeland.

Congratulations, Ato Haileluel, and our thanks to you. God Bless Australia for welcoming and recognizing you!

God Bless Ethiopia!

A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council

It is with great joy that we welcome the unveiling during the coming week of the first official statue to the blessed memory of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I to be erected on his Continent since the Ethiopian coup of 1974 (2 Maskarram 1967).

It is fitting that this statue should be unveiled at the Headquarters of the African Union during the 32nd African Leaders’ Summit and in the presence of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Dr Abiy Ahmad Ali. The creation of the Organization for African Unity (OAU), the predecessor to the African Union (AU), in 1963 was one of the great achievements which the Emperor, my Grandfather, delivered to the People of Africa.

We thank the African Union and the Government of Ethiopia for ensuring that this healing event is occurring. It is a sign not only of the resurgence and optimism of Africa, but of the great healing which has begun to occur over the past year in Ethiopia and the regional nations which form a family with Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Crown has never wavered in its belief that prosperity, mutual respect, and unity would return to the lands of the Ethiopian families.

We thank the African Union and the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the consideration they have shown in ensuring the participation of the Solomonic Family in the unveiling of this important icon to our shared history. The erection of the statue also commemorates the tireless and diligent work behind the scenes of those Ethiopians who helped to create the OAU.

We ask for God’s Blessing on this solemn yet joyous occasion, and on those who work for the restoration of Ethiopia’s ancient history and values, and who work for peace and prosperity throughout Africa.

God Bless Ethiopia! God Bless the African Union!

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The President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, was featured on January 26, 2019, on the nationally-syndicated US radio program, the John Batchelor Show, and Prince Ermias discussed the issue of the erection of the statue to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, and much more besides. Please listen in to the two-part radio program on the following podcast links:

A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council

It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the passing of our former President, Girma Wolde-Giorgis. We extend our deepest sympathy to his family and to the Ethiopian people he served for many years.

The Almighty had blessed President Girma with a long life. He served his people with wisdom, tenacity, and bold leadership. His love for his people and his Ethiopia was exemplified by his spirit of volunteerism, service, and compassion.

His wise counsel and tireless efforts will be missed. He will remain as an exemplary statesman for coming generations.

May the Almighty grant solace to his family and grant his soul eternal peace.

HIH Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie Haile Selassie, for the Crown Council of Ethiopia.

A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council

The All people in the Horn of Africa must feel a profound sense of optimism that, for the first time in many decades, our extended family of peoples has begun to return to a path of amity, friendship, cooperation, and mutual support.

Not only have we begun to see the revival of familial relations between the peoples and governments of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti — who have been so intertwined over the centuries — we have seen the prospect of greater cooperation between our societies and those other states of the region.

This profound work began with the election by the Federal Parliament of Ethiopia of our new Prime Minister, His Excellency Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali, on 7 July 2018. He has, since his election, been tireless in his pursuit of a better life for all Ethiopians and all those of our greater regional family. His initiative to end the decades of estrangement between Ethiopia and Eritrea has already had profoundly positive effects, showing how quickly the fortunes and fates of our societies can be transformed.

We are aware of the potential challenges which the Prime Minister and his Government face in their historic task. We understand that there are those who oppose the restoration of the greatness of our extended Ethiopian family. The Crown of Ethiopia urges that we all put aside regional, communal, and ideological differences to ensure that we can return to our sense of shared identity and common interest.

Prime Minister Abiy has given Ethiopians hope. He has given us back the chance to embrace each other as brothers and sisters. We must not allow him to fail.

Long live Ethiopia.

A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council

The Crown Council warmly congratulates Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali on his appointment as Prime Minister of Ethiopia. His appointment, and the peaceful and stable transfer of authority in our country, reflects a returning optimism, maturity, and tolerance in our political and social systems.

Dr Abiy’s appointment comes at an opportune moment for him to lead our country toward a return to being a peaceful, stable, and unified Nation. We are confident that Prime Minister Abiy will, despite the enormous challenges he faces, make headway with his vision to bring about unity, reconciliation, stability, and economic rejuvenation.

The Ethiopian Parliament must also be recognized for ensuring a peaceful transition of power, and for choosing an able candidate who can lead Ethiopia and a young generation to achieve greatness for our country and region.

The Prime Minister’s inaugural speech was important for its heartfelt call for a restoration of Ethiopia’s historical identity, and for the engagement of opposition groups and Ethiopians in the diaspora. We pray that, together with the support of the Ethiopian People and his Administration, Prime Minister Abiy will bring about the necessary reforms, unity of purpose, and civility among our many great peoples and cultures which the Ethiopian people so earnestly desire.

Long live Ethiopia.

His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, and his wife, HIH Princess Saba Kabede, visited Stockholm, Sweden, during March 2018. Prince Ermias was invested on March 24, 2018, by Princess Marianne Bernadotte with a Stockholm Cultural Award. Other Awards were presented to Gergey Boganyi (the Hungarian Concert Pianist), Rosemary Forbes Butler (the English opera singer), and Carola Haggkvist (the famous Swedish vocalist). The event took place at the House of Nobles.

Their Imperial Highnesses also had a private audience with Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia, recalling the friendship between the grandfathers of Prince Ermias and King Carl Gustaf, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I and His Majesty King Gustaf VI Adolf.

While in Stockholm, Prince Ermias also addressed a Parliamentary group in the Riksdag. The full text of his address follows:

Let me express my great thanks to you, here in the Riksdag, for the opportunity to be with you today.

My pleasure in being with you today is compounded by the knowledge that my late Grandfather, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, enjoyed such strong relations with the Crown and People of Sweden.

His Imperial Majesty first came to Sweden in 1924, while he was still Negus — King — and before he was crowned as Emperor in 1930. Crown Prince Gustav Adolf paid a return visit to Ethiopia in 1935, the first visit by a Swedish member of the Royal Family to Africa.

And after World War II cleared away, the Emperor returned again to Sweden in 1954 and received a wonderful reception from His Majesty King Gustaf Adolf.

Today, after much cordial interchange between our peoples, we see Sweden as a wonderful host to many Ethiopians who fled the violence of the Dergue’s coup in 1974.

That Ethiopians have been so welcomed here in Sweden, and feel so much at home with their Swedish brethren, is very much due to the friendship begun by the Emperor and the King in 1954, and to the earlier contacts between our two countries.

Sweden’s contribution of important medical aid and facilities to Ethiopia, and its contributions to our agriculture and educational facilities, continues to this day to have a positive impact on the lives of Ethiopians;, and for that and all the other support for us by Sweden I add my profound thanks.

It is my hope that this visit will keep alive the great accord which has existed between the royal houses of our countries. But let me speak to several points which I believe are relevant:

1. We live in a time of unique challenges, but they are still affected by the lessons of history. We see almost all nations divided by many factors, but mostly, because of modern transnational migration and urbanization, we see whole societies without a cohesive identity.
2. The identity of nation-states — of the people who live within nation-states — cannot be defined by transitory politics, which often include competition over priorities for resources and attention. We are presently seeing nations throughout the world at war with themselves — far more than they are at war with other nations — over the absence or the erasure of the cohesive symbols of history. If we forget history, or if we fail to embrace the trans-generational character of our nation, then we are no longer a nation; no longer a unified society.
3. The identity of a nation of peoples must be guided by symbols which have an enduring, historical nobility which transcend current politics and immediate materialism. The world has shown in measurable statistics that the most stable — and usually the most productive, happy, and prosperous — nation-states are the ones in which a non-political crown can represent the dignity and nobility of all the population, regardless of its diversity of political thought.
4. We may not be able to end the philosophical polarization between urban and regional peoples — between urban globalists and regional nationalists — which presently divides so many societies. But we can ensure that each component of society has some over-arching identity which is reflected in unifying symbols and ideals of nobility and historical identity. If we politicize these symbols for short-term expediency then we risk destroying our last, best hope of preserving the nation-state.
5. To this end, the Ethiopian Crown, which has been in the diaspora with so many Ethiopians since 1974, is increasingly playing a role in attempting to restore the sense of Ethiopianness to our country, to remind it of its three millennia of Solomonic history and its unique cultural values.
6. The Dergue, in 1974, began a systematic program to erase all learning, and all books, about our great history. In so doing, they destroyed the momentum toward economic and social progress in Ethiopia, and took away its unique history and sense of nobility. The Dergue made us just another poor African country. But that is not our destiny.
7. There have been interregna in Ethiopian history before, during our 3,000 years of the Solomonic line, and yet those interruptions and the destruction caused by them, have always been overcome, and Ethiopians have resumed their special identity and purpose. They will do so again.
8. I need not remind you of the great and special history of Ethiopia since the time of the union between King Solomon and Queen Makeda of Saba, 3,000 years ago. But perhaps it is worth reminding you that there is no other unbroken bloodline in Western civilization, in Judeo-Christian culture, or even, should I say, in Abrahamic tradition, than the Solomonic bloodline. This is but one way in which the history of the Solomonic Crown is also a vital part of the history of the West, and even part of Sweden’s heritage.
9. Ethiopia today is the principal geopolitical anchor of the Horn of Africa, and therefore of the Red Sea and Nile-dependent countries. It has a vital role to play as many aspects of its immediate region are at war or are in chaos. Resolution, therefore, of the current divisions within Ethiopia is of paramount importance to the world community and its prosperity.
10. The Ethiopian Crown Council has offered itself as a mediating and unifying force in the present difficulties in Ethiopia. And to do this effectively, it must remain — and will remain — outside of and above politics. I need not tell you, here in the great Riksdag of Sweden, that governments come and go, and may reflect varying ideologies, but the Crown endures as a protective umbrella for all of those ideologies and governments, and for the people of the nation. So it must be again in Ethiopia.
11. The Crown Council of Ethiopia also engages directly in charitable works, and we have spent much of our time in the development of unique new water purification technologies which are now becoming available to Ethiopians. These technologies, which require minimal maintenance and no filter changes, are designed to meet the difficult circumstances of Ethiopian, and African, remote conditions. Our Water Initiative for Africa is finally getting some traction.
12. The Crown Council is also engaged in the beginnings of a process to restore historical knowledge and historical literacy to Ethiopians, in an attempt to regain what was destroyed by the coup of 1974. Again, let me say that a people deprived of its past is a people who will wander aimlessly into the future. My colleague and strategic philosopher Gregory Copley keeps reminding me that “if you don’t know where you’re going, then every road will lead to disaster”. Let me say to you that we do know where we must go, and we must ensure that all Ethiopians — and all the friends of Ethiopia — are once again embraced by a knowledge of our history, our great meaning to Western civilization, and our great mission to ensure, among other things, the freedom of navigation of the world’s trade through the Red Sea.

Distinguished members of the Riksdag, thank you for your time and attention today. I am happy to discuss any of these points and any other questions you may have. But before I close, let me say: God Bless His Majesty King Carl Gustaf XVI and the Swedish People.

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A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council

The Crown Council of Ethiopia has watched with concern the rise of divisions within our beloved country, even as Ethiopians have been celebrating the great unifying event of the anniversary of Emperor Menelik II’s Victory at Adwa 122 years ago.

It is not for the Crown to interfere with, or determine, political positions in Ethiopia. The late Emperor Haile Selassie I was committed to introducing a separation between the Crown and the Government, so that the People would be free to choose the political governance of the State.

But the Crown Council reiterates its position that the Ethiopian Crown has never abandoned its commitment and duty to the Ethiopian People, as well as to the State, which is our collective home and legacy, regardless of the coup of 1974 and the subsequent regicide of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I.

The Ethiopian Crown, through its Crown Council, wishes to make clear that it is, and always has been, ready to help mediate and stabilize social relations within our country. We serve all Ethiopians, regardless of race, religion, or location, just as we serve the cause of the territorial integrity of our State.

It is the duty and mission of the Crown to represent the unity and prestige of our unique assembly of societies, which together reflect more than three millennia of shared history, including the unbroken Solomonic lineage. To the Ethiopian People we say: We have never left you. We are ready to serve. We are committed to Ethiopian Democracy, and justice for all, and to respect the absolute right of Ethiopians to choose their own political destiny. The role of governance is for the People to choose. The role of the Crown is to safeguard that right.