Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to refrain from invading neighboring countries along the Red Sea. However, he emphasized that his government would persist in pursuing access to ports despite this stance.
Abiy’s comments regarding the Red Sea last month sparked regional concerns, especially given the emerging tensions with neighboring Eritrea, a country known for its extensive coastline.
During a televised address on October 13, Abiy stated that landlocked Ethiopia’s significance is intricately linked to the Red Sea, emphasizing its vital role as a crucial waterway for global trade.
He emphasized that Africa’s second most populous nation requires port access, highlighting the necessity by stating, “If we plan to live together in peace, we have to find a way to mutually share with each other in a balanced manner.”
Subsequently, Abiy has aimed to ease regional apprehensions, addressing a military parade two weeks later by affirming, “Ethiopia will not pursue its interests through war. We are committed to mutual interest through dialogue and negotiation.”
On Tuesday, Abiy told lawmakers: “We want to reassure everyone that we have no plan of invading others but we will not be ashamed of again fairly requesting port access.”
“With a growing economy and population, lack of access to (the) sea would remain a major problem for us,” he said.
Abiy’s earlier remarks stirred tensions in Eritrea, prompting the country’s information ministry to issue a statement last month characterizing discussions about access to the sea as “excessive”.
On Tuesday, Abiy said: “We have no intention of breaching others’ sovereignty but we demand just discussion (about) access to sea”.
“We don’t know what will happen in the future if Ethiopia’s demand for access to sea isn’t resolved peacefully today,” he warned.
Ethiopia lost its access to the coastline when Eritrea separated from Addis Ababa and officially proclaimed independence in 1993 following a three-decade-long war.
It previously had access to a port in Eritrea until the two nations engaged in a war from 1998 to 2000. Since then, Ethiopia has primarily depended on Djibouti for both imports and exports.
Abiy was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2019 for his reconciliation efforts in the preceding year with Eritrea. Subsequently, Eritrean troops supported Ethiopian forces during a two-year conflict in Tigray.
However, ties have seemed tense since the resolution of the Tigray conflict in November 2022.
