Addis Ababa (Somalia Today)— Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday blamed his country’s loss of direct access to the Red Sea on internal political divisions, saying domestic weakness had allowed foreign powers to turn Ethiopia into “a geographic prisoner”.
Speaking at the opening of Ethiopia’s National Dialogue Conference in Addis Ababa, Abiy said the country’s failure to manage its internal disputes had weakened its strategic position and allowed outside actors to exploit its divisions.
“In this journey, through our own internal weakness and their opportunism, we lost our access to the Red Sea,” Abiy told more than 4,000 delegates attending the conference.
He said Ethiopia had “administered, owned, and utilised” the Red Sea “for thousands of years”, but lost its coastline because of domestic fragmentation rather than an external power capable of permanently blocking its interests.
The remarks renewed Ethiopia’s long-running claim to a historical and strategic interest in the Red Sea, an issue that has raised tensions across the Horn of Africa since Abiy’s government began publicly pressing for secure maritime access in late 2023.
Ethiopia became landlocked in 1993 when Eritrea formally gained independence following a decades-long war. The country has since relied heavily on neighbouring Djibouti for access to international shipping routes.
Warning to ‘vultures’
Abiy did not identify the foreign countries he accused of exploiting Ethiopia’s internal conflicts, but said some states had maintained an “uninterrupted, centuries-old hostility” towards the country.
“There are countries with an uninterrupted, centuries-old hostility that wake up and lie in wait at the slightest rustle,” he said.
The prime minister said those actors showed little interest when Ethiopia pursued development, but quickly appeared whenever Ethiopians fought among themselves.
“When we build, they are absent. When we built the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, they were not with us. And when our cities flourished, they were not with us,” Abiy said.
“But when we clash with one another, they suddenly appear, supplying ammunition, funds, and media propaganda.”
Abiy described the unnamed foreign actors as “vultures hovering in the Ethiopian skies”, accusing them of waiting for domestic instability to create opportunities to advance their own interests.
“My message to the vultures hovering in the Ethiopian skies is this: We are the ones who buy the cattle; we are the ones who decide on the portioning, and unless we willingly share what is left over, no vulture can forcefully take a single kilogram of meat from our table,” he said.
Abiy said Ethiopia remained willing to cooperate with its neighbours, but warned that a united country would not surrender what it regarded as its national interests.
“When we want to, and when we choose to, we are ready to share. But to assume that a unified Ethiopia… will surrender its interests is a vain hope,” he said.
He urged foreign governments to “understand our history correctly, change their minds, and work together with us for mutual benefit”.
Somalia dispute
Ethiopia’s campaign for access to the sea triggered a major diplomatic dispute with Somalia after Addis Ababa signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland in January 2024.
Under the controversial agreement, Somaliland was expected to lease a stretch of coastline to Ethiopia for commercial and naval purposes. Somaliland officials said Ethiopia would consider recognising the breakaway territory’s claimed independence in return.
Somalia rejected the agreement as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, insisting that Somaliland had no legal authority to grant Ethiopia access to Somali land or territorial waters.
The dispute strained relations between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa before Turkish-mediated talks produced the Ankara Declaration in December 2024.
Under the declaration, Somalia and Ethiopia committed themselves to respecting each other’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity while pursuing commercial arrangements that could provide landlocked Ethiopia with “reliable, secure and sustainable access to and from the sea”.
Any such arrangement would remain under Somalia’s sovereign authority.
Abiy has repeatedly said Ethiopia intends to secure maritime access through peaceful dialogue and commercial negotiations rather than military force.
However, his frequent references to the Red Sea as a historical Ethiopian interest have continued to unsettle neighbouring countries, particularly Somalia and Eritrea.
Eritrea has controlled Ethiopia’s former Red Sea coastline since gaining independence, including the strategic ports of Assab and Massawa.
Dialogue over force
Abiy used Wednesday’s address to urge participants in the National Dialogue Conference not to allow political differences to undermine Ethiopia’s wider strategic interests.
“No matter what issues we debate or dispute internally, we can discuss, negotiate, and resolve them through forums like this,” he said.
“We must each strive to ensure we do not become the historical weeds that hand over Ethiopia’s national interests to foreign forces.”
The conference brought together more than 4,000 representatives from communities, religious institutions, civil society groups and other sectors across Ethiopia.
Organisers say the forum will address disputes over the country’s federal system, national identity, constitutional governance, human rights, corruption and peacebuilding.
However, several major opposition parties and armed political movements have questioned the process’s credibility and inclusiveness, while some influential political actors remain outside the talks.
Abiy said Ethiopia had relied for generations on confrontation rather than negotiation to resolve political disagreements.
“Our politics begins with strong words and ends with forceful action,” he said. “We must heal this fracture once and for all.”
Building a culture of dialogue would strengthen national unity and leave foreign powers with fewer opportunities to interfere in Ethiopia’s internal affairs, he added.
Abiy said the same unity would strengthen Ethiopia’s position as it pursues one of its most sensitive strategic objectives: securing dependable access to the Red Sea without triggering another confrontation in the Horn of Africa.
