By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ethiopia will not resort to war with longtime rival Eritrea over access to the Red Sea, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday, following concerns from regional officials and experts about a potential breakdown in relations between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.
“Ethiopia does not have any intention of engaging in conflict with Eritrea for the purpose of gaining access to the sea,” Abiy stated, according to a post by his office on X.
Access to the Red Sea is crucial for Ethiopia’s economy, as the landlocked nation relies on Djibouti’s port for almost all its imports. The country is seeking to establish its own port on the Red Sea.
Tensions escalated recently after Eritrea ordered a nationwide military mobilisation, while Ethiopia reportedly deployed troops towards the border, according to diplomatic sources and officials cited by Reuters.
Abiy acknowledged that access to the Red Sea is an existential issue for Ethiopia but emphasised that his government aims to resolve it peacefully through dialogue.
A renewed conflict between two of Africa’s largest armies could dismantle the historic rapprochement for which Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, while also exacerbating the ongoing humanitarian crisis in a region already affected by the war in Sudan.
The Ethiopia-Eritrea rapprochement saw Eritrea backing Ethiopian federal forces during the 2020-2022 civil war between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia’s central government, a conflict that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
However, relations soured after Eritrea was excluded from negotiations to end the war in November 2022.
Since then, the TPLF has fractured, with rival factions vying for control of the post-war interim administration of the Tigray region.
The current interim administration has accused the dissident faction of collaborating with Eritrea, while the dissidents claim their rivals have failed to protect Tigrayan interests. Both sides deny the allegations.
Abiy told parliament on Thursday that the term of the interim administration had been extended for one year, with some amendments.