Eritrean President Isaias Aferweki on June 20, 2018 said he will send a delegation to Ethiopia to begin talks on resolving a bitter border dispute that lasted 16 years, the BBC reported. He made the announcement in front of thousands of people who gathered in the capital, Asmara, to remember those who died fighting for the country’s independence in 1993.

The news is Eritrea’s first official response since Ethiopia’s ruling EPRDF coalition announced earlier this month that it would fully implement the 2002 border ruling ceding territory to Eritrea. The border war from 1998-2000 claimed about 100,000 lives.