Africa-Press. Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister, Gedion Timotheos, has accused Eritrea of carrying out military aggression and supporting armed groups inside Ethiopian territory, according to Reuters.
The two countries, which fought a war between 1998 and 2000, signed a peace agreement in 2018 and later formed an alliance during Ethiopia’s two-year conflict against the authorities of the Tigray region. However, Eritrea was not a party to the 2022 agreement that ended the conflict.
Since then, relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have sharply deteriorated, and recent clashes between Tigray forces and the Ethiopian army have raised fears of a renewed war.
In a letter sent to his Eritrean counterpart Osman Saleh, the Ethiopian foreign minister said Eritrean forces have long occupied parts of Ethiopian territory along sections of the shared border and have provided material support to armed groups operating inside Ethiopia.
The letter, dated Saturday, stated that “the incursion of Eritrean forces into Ethiopian territory is not merely a provocation but constitutes acts of outright aggression,” calling for the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean troops and an end to all forms of cooperation with armed groups.
Gedion Timotheos warned that recent developments signal “further escalation,” referring to joint military maneuvers between Eritrean forces and Ethiopian armed groups near the northwestern border.
He stressed that Ethiopia remains open to dialogue provided Eritrea respects Ethiopia’s territorial integrity, declaring Addis Ababa’s readiness to enter into “good-faith negotiations on all issues of mutual concern, including maritime matters and access to the Red Sea through the port of Assab.”
Repeated statements by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed asserting that landlocked Ethiopia has a right to sea access have caused strong resentment in Eritrea, which borders the Red Sea, and have been viewed by many as an “implicit threat of military action.”
A spokesperson for the Eritrean government said officials were checking whether the foreign ministry had received the letter.
