Ethiopia, on Friday, congratulated Eritrea amid coldness in bilateral ties. Eritrea celebrated its 31st independence day on Friday.
Ethiopian President Sahlework Zewdu and Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie sent messages of congratulation to their Eritrean counterparts. Eritrean embassy in Ethiopia, on Friday, organized a celebratory program at Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa. The program was attended by some Ethiopian government officials, foreign diplomat and others.
Ethiopia and Eritrea restored diplomatic relations in 2018 after PM Abiy Ahmed came to power in Ethiopia. In Ethiopian civil war (Nov 2020-Nov 2022), Eritrea militarily supported Ethiopian federal forces against Tigray regional forces. But after the Ethiopian warring parties signed Pretoria peace deal, the bilateral relations went cold.
Eritrea Ethiopia tensions rose last year when the Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed gave a 45 minute long speech to build a case for gaining full access to a port in a neighboring country. The Prime minister said that Ethiopia in the past had several ports and that Ethiopia had natural right to gain access to a port. Most experts saw Ethiopian Prime Minister’s talk as directed towards Eritrea. Eritrean government responded to Ethiopian PM’s speech vowing to defend Eritrean territorial integrity.
Interestingly, an Eritrean opposition group called Brigade Nhamedu, last Saturday, organized a convention in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. The convention was held close to Eritrean embassy. Ethiopian backing for an Eritrean opposition group will lead to retaliatory measures from Eritrea. But messages of congratulation from Ethiopia to Eritrea indicate that so far their diplomatic ties are intact.
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