The Ethiopian Ministry of foreign Affairs has accused the Eritrean government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of teaming up to “wage war” against Ethiopia.
The Ministry also accused TPLF and the Eritrean government of being involved in a recent offensive by armed forces also called ‘Fano” in Amhara region to capture under a new alliance known as “Tsimdo.”
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterre recently, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos said that the “collusion between the Eritrean government and the hardliner faction of the TPLF has become more evident over the past few months.”
He said the two forces are actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia,” and accused both actors of “financing, mobilizing, and directing armed groups such as Fano to expand the horizon of the conflict.”
The ministry said the actions of TPLF violate the 2022 Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities signed in Pretoria between the federal government and the TPLF.
The ministry stated that the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) have maintained “a defensive posture” and exercised “maximum restraint,” but warned that “the policy is not one of indefinite restraint.”
The letter described Eritrea as “the main architect of these nefarious activities,” accusing it of underwriting conflicts through “financial, material, and political support.” Eritrea’s actions, Gedion wrote, aim to “destabilize and fragment Ethiopia” under the pretext of feeling threatened by Ethiopia’s “quest to gain access to the sea.”
“Eritrea presents its hostile acts as preemptive defensive measures,” the minister said, calling such claims “pretexts invoked to justify Eritrea’s decades-old effort to destabilize Ethiopia.”
He said that Ethiopia remains committed to pursuing access to the sea “through peaceful means,” emphasizing that the government seeks “institutionalized economic integration mechanisms beneficial for both Eritrea and Ethiopia.”
MG/abj/APA