Ethiopia accuses Egypt of obstructing Red Sea access bid: What to know
The remark came days after a new maritime cooperation agreement between Cairo and Asmara.
Ethiopia on Thursday accused Egypt of seeking to undermine its efforts to secure access to the Red Sea, days after Cairo signed a maritime cooperation agreement with Eritrea.
What happened: Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nebiat Getachew said Addis Ababa accused Egypt of attempting to “obstruct” Ethiopia’s access to the Red Sea.
He added that Ethiopia “will continue working to secure sea access through a peaceful and sustainable path.”
Al-Monitor has reached out to the Egyptian government for comment.
This is not the first time Ethiopia has made such an accusation, but it comes less than a week after Egypt and Eritrea — a longtime adversary of Ethiopia — signed agreements on cooperation in the Red Sea. The agreements were signed in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, in the presence of President Isaias Afwerki during a visit by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir.
The agreements included a “cooperation agreement on maritime transport and the establishment of a shipping line linking Egyptian and Eritrean ports via the Red Sea,” Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that Abdelatty stressed to Afwerki that the “governance and security” of the Red Sea must remain the “exclusive responsibility” of the strategic waterway’s littoral states.
“Non-littoral parties have no right to engage in arrangements related to the Red Sea,” the statement quoted Abdelatty as saying.
Background: Landlocked since Eritrea’s secession in 1991 following a decades-long civil war, Ethiopia has increasingly sought a permanent foothold on the Red Sea, including through a controversial memorandum of understanding signed in 2024 with Somaliland, a breakaway region in Somalia. Under the deal, Addis Ababa would gain access to the port of Berbera in exchange for potentially recognizing Somaliland’s independence.
The agreement drew sharp condemnation from Somalia, which considers Somaliland part of its sovereign territory and accused Ethiopia of violating its territorial integrity.
The implementation of the 2024 deal has since stalled amid international pressure and Turkish-mediated talks between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa. Ethiopia has yet to formally recognize Somaliland, and no final agreement granting port access has been publicly concluded.
Know more: Tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia predate the Somaliland deal. The two countries have been at odds for more than a decade over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Addis Ababa is constructing on the Blue Nile, the Nile River’s main tributary. Cairo argues the dam threatens downstream Nile water flows. Egypt relies on the Nile for more than 90% of its water.
Egypt has sought to strengthen ties with other countries in the Horn of Africa, including Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti, in an effort to build regional support amid its dispute with Ethiopia.
Ethiopia, meanwhile, has been stepping up its own diplomatic outreach. Ethiopian State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hadera Abera Admassu visited Qatar this week and met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
Last week, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, in a bid to reinforce ties with the Trump administration following reports that Washington is considering a potential reset of ties with Eritrea.
In late April, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was exploring lifting sanctions on Eritrea, particularly as US concerns over Iran and Yemen’s Houthi movement have increased the strategic importance of Red Sea shipping routes. Eritrea controls roughly 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) of Red Sea coastline, including the strategic port of Assab.
