A recent op-ed by two senior Ethiopian officials, Redwan Hussein and Getachew Reda, published on Al Jazeera English, tried to portray Ethiopia as an innocent victim 'dragged' into conflict by external actors. The author of the response argues that this approach aims to absolve the Prosperity Party of responsibility for the country’s deepening internal crises.
According to the article, more dangerously, this narrative is a diplomatic smoke screen designed to normalize unprovoked hostility, state-sponsored inflammatory rhetoric, and the massive military mobilization that the Ethiopian government has directed against Eritrea since late 2023.
The author asserts that the devastating war in northern Ethiopia from November 4, 2020, to November 2, 2022, was not due to external intervention, but was a product of long-standing ethnic divisions and systematic political polarization. Eritrea did not start the conflict; it was drawn into the war at the explicit request of the Ethiopian federal government for self-defense reasons.
The article cites public statements by Getachew Reda himself during the war, showing that targeting Eritrea was a deliberate strategy from the outset. After the ceasefire, leaders of the Prosperity Party, from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed down, repeatedly thanked Eritrea through official channels — a stark contrast to their current portrayal of Eritrea as an enemy.
The author criticizes the two Ethiopian officials' distorted account of the Pretoria peace talks, arguing they fabricated a dramatic, artificial story of miraculous reconciliation between the parties. In reality, secret contacts had been taking place earlier in Djibouti and Seychelles. At the instigation of elements within the Prosperity Party, the warring factions explored the possibility of joining forces to direct the military toward a war of aggression against Eritrea.
The article emphasizes that the Pretoria Agreement was a purely internal Ethiopian accord and that Eritrea supports peace and stability for Ethiopia and the entire region. Conversely, since December 2023, Ethiopia has launched a state-backed propaganda campaign around the concept of 'sovereign access to the sea,' mobilizing academics and international media to justify an expansionist agenda.
On the military front, the ruling party has massed large forces, heavy artillery, and mechanized divisions near the Eritrean border, accompanied by threats to seize Assab and other coastal lands, by force if necessary. Ethiopia’s recent foreign policy has also frayed ties with neighbors, such as signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Somaliland without the consent of the Somali government, triggering a serious diplomatic crisis.
The author concludes that the story of Ethiopia as an innocent victim dragged into war masks the reality that the ruling party is actively moving military assets, signing illegal agreements, and threatening the borders of sovereign states. The path forward demands an immediate end to the reckless saber-rattling over 'sovereign access to the sea,' a halt to cross-border proxy alliances, and a return to fundamental principles of non-interference and territorial integrity. Eritrea firmly defends its sovereignty, backed by solid legality and historical truth.
