Addis Abeba – Eritrea’s Ministry of Information has issued a statement rejecting accusations by Mulatu Teshome, Ethiopia’s former president and a close ally of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, accusing Eritrea of involving “in almost every major conflict in the Horn of Africa,” and engaging in actions that could “reignite war in northern Ethiopia.”

In the statement, Eritrea said that Ethiopia’s internal crises should not be externalized or blamed on Asmara.

Yemane G. Meskel, Eritrea’s Minister of Information, described Mulatu’s claims as ” audacious claim…precisely intended to conceal and rationalize a war-mongering agenda,” adding that that Eritrea has acted in accordance with international law and has no interest in interfering in Ethiopia’s internal matters.

“Eritrea has always upheld its commitment to peace and regional stability. The issues Ethiopia faces today stem from its own internal political dynamics, and scapegoating Eritrea will not provide a solution,” Yemane stated.

Eritrean also blamed the 1998-2000 bloody border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia on the Ethiopian government’s occupation of Eritrean territories.

Ties between the two countries were normalized in 2018 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced Ethiopia’s acceptance of the EEBC ruling after two decades of no-war, no peace standoff.

However, relations were strained again following the signing of the Pretoria agreement to bring to an end the two years atrocious war in the Tigray region, which saw the involvement of Eritrean forces who committed crimes against humanity and war crimes during the war. Eritrea defended its involvement in the war, stating that it provided sanctuary to Ethiopian troops.  

Eritrea also rejected claims that it was unhappy about the Pretoria agreement and said, the agreement is “an internal Ethiopian matter. Eritrea has neither the interest nor the appetite to obstruct or interfere,” the statement added, rejecting claims of continued Eritrean military presence in Ethiopian border areas.

Regarding Ethiopia’s internal conflict in the Amhara region, for which the former president blamed President Isaias Afwerki of engineering “a militia”, Eritrea said Ethiopia’s internal conflicts should not be projected onto neighboring states. “The myriad problems besetting the region originate from Ethiopia, not elsewhere. The solution does not lie in externalizing conflicts or blaming Eritrea.”

Furthermore, Eritrea has criticized Ethiopia’s recent moves regarding access to ports and the government’s intent to acquire maritime access; it claimed that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Ethiopia Somaliland has precipitated “commotion and disquiet,” and is  “another element of regional tension.”

Mulatu Teshome, former president of Ethiopia (right), and Isaias Afwerki, president of Eritrea (left), sitting together in a formal setting.

Eritrea rejects former Ethiopia President accusations of ' ...

Eritrea Responds to Ethiopia’s former figure-head President, Mr. Mulatu Teshome

The Pancea does not Lie in Externalizing the Conflict or Scapegoating Eritrea

In classical fashion, Ethiopia’s former figure-head President, Mr. Mulatu Teshome, raises a false-flag alarm to accuse Eritrea for stoking a “new conflict in the Horn of Africa”.  Audacious claim is precisely intended to conceal and rationalize a war-mongering agenda.  The facts are otherwise crystal-clear:

1. Contrary to distorted historical accounts that Mr. Mulatua attempts to project, Eritrea and Ethiopia went to war in 1998 precisely because the TPLF-led Ethiopian regime occupied sovereign Eritrean territories -  including Badme, Adi Murug and other places - in flagrant violation of international law and the OAU cardinal principle on the sanctity of colonial boundaries.

2. Even after the costly war, Ethiopia continued to defy international law and occupy sovereign Eritrean territories in breach of the Arbitral EEBC Award for twenty long years. Mulatua endorsed – even if his authority was arguably nominal - the violation of international law as well as the “regime change” agendas of regional destabilization of the Melles regime during his Presidency in those times (2013-2018).

3. Eritrea normalized ties with Ethiopia in 2018 when the Abiy Government publicly announced its readiness for the full and unequivocal acceptance and implementation of the EEBC Award of 2002. Eritrea reciprocated in good-faith and worked in earnest to foster and nurture good-neighbourly ties with Ethiopia on the basis of full respect of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

4. But soon, Ethiopia was embroiled in a deadly conflict with its Tigray region when the latter unleashed what was widely termed as a War of Insurrection on the night of 3 November 2020. Eritrea gave sanctuary to the contingent of the Ethiopian Northern Command who escaped from  coordinated and massive assaults in the TPLF “blitzkrieg”.  The TPLF’s war plans also included massive and phased attacks on Eritrea.

5. Eritrea’s involvement in the imposed war was dictated by these circumstances as well as the  request of the Ethiopian Government. Shameful and unconscionable acts of backstabbing aside, the Ethiopian Government and its Defense establishments officially and publicly paid tribute to Eritrea’s indispensable role during Ethiopia’s dark days.

6. As underlined in previous occasions, the Pretoria Agreement is an exclusive matter for the Ethiopian Government and its internal protagonists. Eritrea has neither the interest nor the appetite to obstruct or tamper with a purely internal Ethiopian affair.

7. Indeed, Eritrea duly re-deployed its troops within its internationally recognized sovereign borders. Still, those who never accepted the EEBC Arbitral Award in good-faith, or harbour some intent in fomenting conflict, have and continue to peddle false allegations of Eritrean troop presence in “the border areas”— apparent euphemisms/references to Badme and other similar territories.

8. The ill-intent and provocations have not been confined to these acts only.  For reasons that are difficult to fathom, the Ethiopian Federal Government has unleashed, in the past months, an intensive and unwarranted campaign of provocation against Eritrea through its “thinly-veiled” agenda of acquiring ports and maritime land “legally if possible and militarily if necessary”.

9. The commotion and disquiet precipitated by Ethiopia’s opaque MOU with “Somaliland” remains another element of regional tension. Ethiopia is also embroiled in another vicious internal war in the Amhara Region.

10. In a nutshell, the myriad problems besetting the region stem and find their fulcrum in Ethiopia; not elsewhere. And the panacea does not lie in externalizing the conflict or scapegoating Eritrea.

Yemane G. Meskel Minister of Information 

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