Osman Saleh Warns Diplomats Over Ethiopia’s Red Sea Ambitions

ASMARA — Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh briefed diplomats in Asmara on 15 October, warning that Ethiopia’s pursuit of sovereign access to the Red Sea threatened Eritrea’s territorial integrity and peace across the Horn of Africa, according to Eritrea’s Ministry of Information.

During the briefing, Osman outlined three years of provocative statements by senior political and military officials in Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party. The foreign minister described those pronouncements and accompanying military threats as a declaration of war against Eritrea.

Osman argued that the campaign breached the UN Charter and the two countries’ 2018 peace agreement. Article 2(4) of the Charter prohibits threats or force against another state’s territorial integrity or political independence.

He said the Ethiopian government was providing sanctuary, military assistance and logistical support to armed groups operating against Eritrea, and engaging in military activities that fuelled regional conflicts.

Osman reiterated that Eritrea was not a party to the November 2022 Pretoria agreement between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. He rejected a role for Eritrea in implementing that agreement.

On the diplomatic rupture, Osman said Ethiopia’s embassy stopped answering official correspondence in May, closed and departed on 8 August, and Ethiopia expelled ten Eritrean diplomats on 1 October, including personnel assigned to the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

The meeting followed an Eritrean information note published on 14 October, which set out Eritrea’s concerns about territorial rhetoric, armed groups and the deterioration of diplomatic relations.

Ethiopia has previously presented its maritime ambitions as peaceful. In February, the Ethiopian News Agency reported Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed advocating negotiations and shared investments while arguing that Ethiopia required access to a stretch of coastline.

Osman renewed Eritrea’s call for the UN Security Council to condemn Ethiopia’s policy and adopt deterrent measures under Chapter VII of the Charter.