Abiy: ‘No official record’ exists for Ethiopia’s sea access loss

Addis Ababa, Addis-Ababa — Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Tuesday there is “no official record or institutional decision” documenting the Ethiopia sea access loss. He called the nation’s landlocked status an “existential question” that must be resolved peacefully.

Addressing lawmakers in Addis Ababa on October 28, 2025, Abiy argued that no Ethiopian institution had formally approved the issue.

“If the people did not know, the parliament did not know… who, then, made the decision?” Abiy asked. “We cannot find a single document.”

Ethiopia became landlocked in 1993 when Eritrea gained independence after a 30-year war and a UN-supervised referendum, according to historical records. The Ethiopia sea access loss left the nation without its former coastline, including the key ports of Massawa and Assab.

Abiy’s government has recently intensified its push for port access, raising regional tensions.

Ethiopia-Eritrea port tensions

In his speech, Abiy said he discussed Ethiopia’s quest for sea access with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki after their 2018 peace deal.

He stated that Ethiopia had rehabilitated the road to the Assab port and offered to supply electricity at its own cost. However, he said the Eritrean side “showed no willingness” to make the port functional.

“We tried to assist by sending cranes and generators from a friendly third country, but Eritrea rejected the equipment,” Abiy added.

The prime minister also linked recent tensions with Asmara to the 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which ended the two-year war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

“But the Eritreans took a position that as long as the TPLF and Tigray were not fully destroyed, lasting peace could not be achieved,” he said. “These are, after all, our own people. We refused to accept the idea of destroying them.”

Abiy then accused the Eritrean government of “acting as a courier of bullets” and urged it to “be a state, not a smuggler of weapons.”

Eritrea warns of ‘aggression’

Eritrea, however, forcefully rejected Ethiopia’s narrative earlier in October.

In an October 7 statement on X, Information Minister Yemane G. Meskel dismissed Ethiopia’s rhetoric linking the Blue Nile and Red Sea as “bizarre” and “mind-boggling.”

Meskel said the narrative lacked any “geographical, legal, or geopolitical basis” and accused Abiy’s government of “manufacturing illusions” to justify regional ambitions.

“Historically, such deceit has been a prelude to aggression,” Meskel wrote, calling it a “cynical attempt to usurp other nations’ wealth.”

The statement warned that Ethiopia’s fixation on its port access demand risks “igniting another unnecessary conflict.” Asmara maintained it has “no appetite for war” but would “defend its sovereignty if threatened,” a point echoed by President Afwerki in a recent interview.

The sharp diplomatic exchange followed an October 2 letter from Ethiopia to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The letter, signed by Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos, accused Eritrea and “hardline elements” within the TPLF of forming a new alliance, “Tsimdo,” to “wage war” against the state.

Crucially, the letter reiterated Ethiopia’s intent to secure “sovereign access to the sea through legal means if possible, and military force if necessary,” remarks that alarmed regional capitals.

Eritrea dismissed those claims as “a deceitful charade” and a “dangerous provocation dressed in diplomatic language.”

GERD dam defense

Separate from the coastal dispute, the prime minister also addressed the long-standing issue over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). He reiterated Ethiopia’s right to use the Abbay (Blue Nile). He said the dam has caused “no harm” to downstream Egypt or Sudan.

“Before the dam, the challenge was drought; now it is flooding,” Abiy said. “If we hadn’t built the dam, the damage could have been much worse.”

Despite rising tensions with Eritrea, Abiy’s October 28 speech concluded with a call for international mediation over Ethiopia’s loss of sea access.

“Our priority is peace and dialogue,” he told lawmakers, calling on the United States, China, Russia, and Europe to support the efforts.

Analysts said the exchanges underscore a rapid deterioration in relations, warning a new conflict could endanger the vital Red Sea shipping corridor.