Ethiopia rules out conflict with Eritrea over Red Sea access

In light of recent concerns about a potential conflict between Ethiopia and neighbor Ethiopia, Ethiopia’s prime minister says his nation won’t enter a conflict with its long-standing rival Eritrea over access to the Red Sea.

According to a post from his office on X, Ethiopia does not intend to conflict with Eritrea in order to gain access to the sea, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday.

Abiy’s government wanted to resolve the conflict peacefully via dialogue, he added, even though landlocked Ethiopia had an existential interest in having access to the Red Sea.

A human rights organization claims that Ethiopia deployed troops toward the border in recent weeks and that Eritrea had ordered a nationwide military mobilization, raising fears of war.

Eritrea has accused Abiy of eyeing the port of Assab because of its ambitions to gain access to the sea.

Ethiopia’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said on Tuesday that, in line with the foreign minister’s remarks to international diplomats, “Eritrea is perplexed by Ethiopia’s misguided and outdated ambitions for maritime access and naval bases “through diplomacy or military force.”

Yemane urged the international community to “peace Ethiopia to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbors” in a post on X.

He also referred to Eritrea’s alleged “preparations for war against Ethiopia” as “false accusations.”

Tigray’s tensions

A historic reconciliation, for which Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, would be met by renewed hostilities between two of Africa’s largest armies, which also raises the possibility of a humanitarian disaster in a region already grappling with the effects of the conflict in Sudan.

Eritrean forces crossed the border to fight in support of Ethiopia during the civil war between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian government.

However, Ethiopia and Eritrea, which were not parties to the negotiations, reacted to the peace deal signed in Pretoria, South Africa, in November 2022.

The TPLF, which has the support of Ethiopia’s federal government and controls Tigray’s post-war interim administration, has since split.

The dissident faction has claimed collaboration with Eritrea with the current interim administration, while their rivals claim that Tigrayan interests have been violated by their allies. The allegations made by each side are refuted by the other.

Abiy disclosed to parliament on Thursday that some amendments had been made to extend the interim Tigray administration’s term by one year. He declined to provide more information about whether the changes would require the dissident faction’s main demands for new leadership appointments.