Ethiopia, Eritrea promise to avoid war but offer no peace guarantee

“Our intention is to negotiate based on the principle of give and take. What the Eritrean people need is development, not conflict. Our plan is not to fight but to work together and grow together," he said in a briefing to parliament.

Ethiopia is the world's most populous landlocked nation.

Abiy, however, reiterated that a country with a population of over 120 million needs a seaport.

"Access to the Red Sea is nevertheless an existential matter for Ethiopia. What we want is to peacefully address our current challenges," he added.

Tensions have been high between the two neighbours since Abiy said in October last year that gaining access to the sea was a matter of survival for Ethiopia.

"Our interest in the Red Sea should not be a matter of competition between Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Kenya. It is a shared resource," the Prime Minister said, noting that 5,000 kilometres of coastline are located in the Horn of Africa and are sufficient for everyone.

“There are rumors saying that there will be a conflict with the Eritrean government," the Prime Minister said, adding that he wanted to assure both the Ethiopian and Eritrean people that "Ethiopia has no intention of invading Eritrea for the sake of the Red Sea."

Read: Ethiopia’s Abiy rules out war with Eritrea over Red Sea access

In recent weeks, there have been growing concerns that the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region could flare up again, potentially involving Eritrea.

The two-year long Tigray civil war, officially ended in November 2022 following Pretoria agreement mediated by the African Union.

However, elements of the peace agreement, known as the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, are beginning to unravel as political tensions rise among Tigray leaders.

Accusations have surfaced that Eritrea is meddling in the region's internal disputes.

On Thursday, Tigray's Interim President, Getachew Reda, accused his political rivals of collaborating with Eritrea, which had previously supported the Ethiopian federal government during the war.

He claimed there are reasons to believe that external actors are playing a role, with Eritrea viewing instability in Tigray as an opportunity to advance its own interests.

In response, Eritrea's Foreign Minister, Osman Saleh, firmly rejected these accusations, stating in a meeting with diplomats in Asmara on Tuesday that his country was not involved in the tensions in northern Ethiopia.

Saleh criticised Ethiopia’s “misguided and outdated ambitions” regarding maritime access and the establishment of a naval base, whether through diplomacy or military means.

Speaking at a briefing to diplomats and UN agency heads in Asmara, Saleh urged the international community to pressure Ethiopia to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours.

The briefing also referred to “false accusations” related to its alleged preparations for war against Ethiopia, its position on the Pretoria Agreement, and Ethiopia’s push for sea access.

Mr Saleh dismissed claims suggesting Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF) presence in Ethiopia as baseless, attributing them to efforts to scapegoat Eritrea for Ethiopia’s internal problems.

Asmara says its troops, accused of atrocities in Tigray, had already left the scene of battle but argued they had been redeployed to “Eritrea’s internationally recognised borders.”

Asmara’s claims that former Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had rejected the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) ruling and attempted to incite regime change in Eritrea.

"Anyone that claims or suggests that the EDF are still in Ethiopian territory is doing so to scapegoat Eritrea for Ethiopia's internal problems" he said.

"These accusations are peddled by former TPLF members who had rejected from the outset, and continue to reject, the final and binding Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) decision, and who had worked for regime change in Eritrea "to no avail".

Eritrea and Ethiopia had gone to war in 1998, something solved with mediation of Algeria. However, while the two have avoided confrontation since the peace deal in 2000, they have not addressed pending issues including actual demarcation of the border and some territories Eritrea thinks should be on its side. Today, however, the source of contention has been Abiy rally to a sea access.

Last year, he angered Somalia after signing an MoU with Somaliland, a territory Somalia considers its own. The MoU was never published but officials used to say it gave Ethiopia a lease of a naval base while it promised to recognise Somaliland independence. Ethiopia and Somalia have since walked back on their tensions following mediation by Turkey.

Read: Why are Ethiopia and Eritrea on the brink of a possible war?

With Eritrea having seceded with its coastline, Ethiopia feels access to those waters can be through Eritrea as well.

"Eritrea is perplexed by Ethiopia's misguided and outdated ambitions for maritime access and naval base "through diplomacy or military force,” Yemane Gebremeskel, Eritrea’s Minister for Information said.

"In this respect, Eritrea urges the international community and its relevant bodies to put pressure on Ethiopia to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours."

As it is the splintering of TPLF into factions could be fertile ground for a new war. Ethiopia's Foreign minister, Gedion Timotewos, expressed suspicions last week, telling diplomats in Addis Ababa that one of the factions in Tigray may have ties to Eritrea, although he did not provide further details.

A tense situation has arisen between the interim administration of Tigray, President Getachew Reda, and the chairman of the TPLF, Debretsion Gebremichael.

In a statement, the Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs accused the TPLF wing led by Dr Debretsion of "establishing and collaborating with foreign forces who are hostile to Ethiopia."

Mr Getachew, on his part said that "certain" TPLF and military leaders on the other side had met with Eritrean leaders "in order to increase their negotiating capacity with the federal government."

The accused TPLF faction however denies this accusation, and recently, the regional vice president and head of security, Tadesse Werede, said that it is wrong to say that Tigray security forces have ties to Eritrea.