Eritrean FM today briefed foreign diplomats about ongoing tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Osman Salih, the Foreign Minister, gave the briefing at Eritrean Foreign Ministry Headquarter in Asmara on Tuesday morning. It was attended by foreign diplomats and heads of UN agencies.
The FM rejected claims by the Ethiopian side that Eritrea is in occupation of Ethiopian territories, saying that Eritrean military is deployed on sovereign Eritrean land in accordance with the final and binding decision given by Ethiopia Eritrea boundary commission in 2002. The Foreign Minister said that Eritrea has nothing to do with Pretoria deal and it is Ethiopia’s internal matter. The Deal was signed in November 2022 by Ethiopian federal government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to end two year long deadly war in northern Ethiopia in which Eritrean military supported the Ethiopian federal forces against Tigray regional forces.
Osman Salih rejected recent accusations by Getachew Reda, Tigray Interim President, that TPLF and Tigray Generals are conspiring with Eritrea. He said that Eritrea has no role in internal conflict in Tigray.
The Eritrean FM expressed concern about landlocked Ethiopia’s “ambition to gain military access to sea through diplomacy or use of force”. He urged the international community to step in to pressurize Ethiopia into respecting territorial integrity and sovereignty of neighboring countries.
On weekend, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gideon Timotheos and Tigray President Getachew Reda briefed diplomats in Ethiopian capital. They accused a TPLF faction of conspiring with “external forces” to destabilize the country and the region. The briefing by Eritrean foreign minister seems to be a counter briefing.
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