Report To The Nation
Nov. 21, 1964
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.... 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 nations'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.
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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 struct 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
halfway 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-neighbours, 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 statemanship. Our visits have brought Ethiopia even closer to her East African
neighbours, 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 and
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....
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Haile Selassie the First - November 21, 1964
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