Ethiopia denies involvement in escalating regional conflict

Ethiopia Responds to Al Jazeera Article on Conflict with Eritrea

A recent article by senior Ethiopian officials Redwan Hussein and Getachew Reda published on Al Jazeera English’s website has sparked a response from Ethiopia. The article attempted to portray the country as an innocent victim of external conflict, suggesting that it was being “dragged” into the war with Eritrea.

The Ethiopian government has denied this characterization, stating that the conflict was not caused by external factors, but rather by internal ethnic cleavages and institutionalized political polarization. According to historical records, Eritrea did not instigate the conflict, nor did it harbor expansionist designs on sovereign Ethiopian territory.

In fact, Eritrea was drawn into the war at the explicit request of the Ethiopian federal government for self-defense purposes. The broader objectives of the war agenda included targeting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Eritrea from its inception.

Following the formal cessation of hostilities, senior officials from the Prosperity Party, including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, publicly expressed gratitude to Eritrea through official statements, parliamentary discussions, state media, and remarks by senior military officials. This contradicts the narrative presented in the article, which frames Eritrea as an antagonist.

The Ethiopian government has also disputed the anecdotal accounts of Getachew and Redwan regarding the Pretoria peace talks, describing them as “heavily theatrical” and “entirely fictitious”. The article’s portrayal of a sudden, miraculous reconciliation between bitter enemies ignores the reality that months before the formal talks in South Africa, confidential communications revealed a more complex situation.

The Ethiopian government has emphasized that the Pretoria Agreement was not a spontaneous triumph of domestic unity over external division, but rather the result of careful negotiations and compromise.

Source: Al Jazeera