Eritrea has dismissed Ethiopia’s recent claims that it is preparing for war, describing the accusation as reckless and provocative amid growing tension between the two neighbouring nations.
The decades-long relationship between both countries has again become strained, more than thirty years after Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia.
Earlier this month, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry wrote to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, alleging that Eritrea was working with a faction of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to fund and direct armed groups in the Amhara region — a hotspot of conflict in recent years.
Responding to the allegations, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Ghebremeskel condemned Addis Ababa’s claims as “a deceitful charade” and accused Ethiopia of attempting to provoke unrest through “baseless propaganda.”
In a separate letter addressed to the UN, the TPLF also rejected Ethiopia’s accusations, describing them as “unfounded” and warning that the federal government’s stance could be laying the groundwork for another regional war. The group urged the African Union and international partners to intervene through mediation.
The TPLF accused Ethiopia of trying to rewrite events, calling the government’s claims “a dangerous inversion of reality,” saying it paints “the aggressor as the victim.”
Eritrea gained independence in 1993, but the two nations fought a brutal border war from 1998 to 2000 that claimed tens of thousands of lives. Relations improved briefly in 2018 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki signed a peace deal — a move that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize a year later.
However, tensions reignited following the 2020–2022 conflict in Tigray, during which Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopian forces. The war left an estimated 600,000 people dead, according to the African Union.
Since the end of the conflict, relations have cooled once again. Eritrea has accused Ethiopia of seeking control of its Red Sea port, Assab, while Abiy has openly stated his country’s need for sea access — a right lost after Eritrea’s independence.
Ghebremeskel claimed Ethiopia’s actions threaten Eritrea’s sovereignty, warning that Addis Ababa’s insistence on gaining access to the sea “through legal means if possible, or by force if necessary,” reveals its true intentions.
In June, a US monitoring report alleged that Eritrea was rebuilding its military and destabilising the region — claims Asmara dismissed, instead blaming Ethiopia for fueling renewed instability across the Horn of Africa.
