Ethiopia Expels 10 Eritrean Diplomats and Closes Its Embassy; Eritrea Cuts Ties

Ethiopia closed its embassy in Eritrea's capital, Asmara, and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats out of the country on Thursday, a sharp break between two Horn of Africa neighbors that fought a bloody border war a generation ago. Eritrea responded by severing diplomatic ties with Ethiopia.

Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry declared the 10 diplomats persona non grata and gave them 48 hours to leave. It said they had engaged in activities that posed a "direct threat to Ethiopia's national security," in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The ministry also accused Eritrea of "direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence." It did not say what the diplomats were alleged to have done.

Even as it took the step, Ethiopia said it "values its strong historical, cultural, and people-to-people ties with Eritrea" and urged the Eritrean government to "cease all acts that are contrary to the principles governing relations between sovereign states."

Eritrea rejected the accusations. It called Ethiopia's charges "astounding" and said Addis Ababa has run a three-year campaign of hostility against it tied to Ethiopia's push for sovereign access to the sea. Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea won independence in 1993, and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has repeatedly described sea access as an existential matter for his country of more than 120 million people.

The breakdown reverses one of the most celebrated diplomatic reconciliations in recent African history. In 2018, Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki ended the state of war that followed the 1998-2000 border conflict, which killed tens of thousands of people. Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize the following year for the deal. The relationship soured after the two governments fought side by side against Tigrayan forces in the 2020-2022 civil war, and Eritrea has since been angered by Ethiopian talk of reaching the Red Sea.

The move comes as northern Ethiopia is again unstable. In late September, Tigrayan forces seized airports and pushed into the neighboring Afar region, fighting that raised fears of a return to full-scale war. Analysts watching the region worry that the new diplomatic rupture removes one of the few channels the two governments had to manage a crisis.

Ethiopia provided no details about the activities it alleges, which makes it hard for outsiders to judge what prompted the move. Eritrea has been ruled by Isaias since independence, and the two leaders' personal relationship was the core of the 2018 deal, which is one reason the break is being read as more than a routine diplomatic spat.

The diplomats' 48-hour deadline expires this weekend. The open question is whether the two governments keep any channel open as the northern fighting continues.