2007年VOA标准英语-Norway Slashes Development Aid to Ethiopia

By Arjun Kohli
Nairobi
31 August 2007

Norway said Friday that it will cut development aid to Ethiopia by an estimated five million dollars. The move comes after Ethiopian officials said six Norwegian diplomats¹ had to leave the country.  As Arjun Kohli reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, Ethiopia had accused Norway of trying to spread instability across the Horn of Africa and undermining its national security.

Following an announcement by the Ethiopian government that only the Norwegian ambassador and two diplomatic staff would be allowed to stay in country, Norway announced that it will reduce its annual budget of $17 million of aid to Ethiopia.

A spokeswoman for Norway's aid ministry² told the media that the decision was a practical one, not political and the ministry planned to look into other ways to help projects in Ethiopia.

The six Norwegian diplomats were asked to leave the country by Sept. 15, leaving three staffers in Addis Ababa.  Ethiopia did not give a specific reason for the ouster, but said Norway's government has been "pampering³" anti-Ethiopia groups in the Horn of Africa.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry says that Ethiopia, one of Africa's poorest countries, needs support from donor⁴ countries and aid organizations, but in the case of Norway, aid efforts were in conflict with the governments own policies to create political stability and economic development in the region.

The spokesperson for the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wahide Belay, claims that Norway was directing support to rogue⁵ forces in Eritrea.

"As you know the Eritrean government has been proven from time to time that it is not only destabilizing Ethiopia, it is also destabilizing the region," he said.  "It has been involved in helping⁶ terrorist groups in Somalia, who are day to day destabilizing Somalia."

Ethiopia, which supports the transitional federal government in Somalia, has accused Eritrea of supporting Islamists in Somalia.

Norwegian media has said Oslo's efforts to help cool tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which fought a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people, appeared to be the cause of Ethiopia's expulsion of the diplomats.

Nevertheless, Belay tells VOA Ethiopia wants to enter into a dialogue with Norway.

"The government of Ethiopia is not interested in escalating⁷ this issue," he added.  "That is why it has not publicized the action of reducing the diplomatic staff in Addis Ababa.  The interest has been and remains⁸ to engage the government of Norway in a serious and transparent⁹ dialogue over issues of donor concern including the consequences of its actions in the sub region. Our government expects an equally responsible response from the government of Norway." 

Belay did not confirm if talks with Norway are scheduled.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 pampering   

v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But you need to make an appointment because these people are usually very busy pampering pets. 但是你需要先预约，因为这些人通常都在忙于照顾宠物们。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• He had been pampering, and coaxing, and indulging that individual all his life. 他一生都在姑息、迁就、纵容那家伙。 来自辞典例句

4 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

5 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。