“180. The claims of Ethiopia, so clearly expressed at many previous occasions and lately revived With ample justification before the Commission, should not be confused with an imperialistic attempt towards colonial expansion. They are based as much on geographical, economic and ethnic reasons as they have their background in the history of Ethiopia and of the disputed territory which now forms Eritrea. There is no need to go to the remote history of this subject, and it is sufficient to recall the events through which Italy came to Eritrea. In 1869 It acquired a strip of coast near Assab; in 1885, it occupied Massawa, til then held by the Egyptians on a kind of lease from the Ethiopian Emperor; next came the Italian defeat in 1887, when the garrison at Dogali, near Massawa, was destroyed by the Emperor’s Governor of Eritrea; further battles and treaties finally led up to the ltalo-Eritrean Treaty of 1900, by which the Ethiopian Government ceded the southern part of Eritrea of today to Italy. These facts prove the exercise by Ethiopia of its sovereignty over the Eritrean territory right down to the Red Sea, and offer ample justification for the historical claim for its reintegration” (Report of the United Nations Commission for Eritrea (excerpt).
A/1285, 8 June 1950).
Aye, aye Captain or should I say “Yes, Prime Minister”. We all know this is the ideal, dream and the spirit that is floating it all. This is the dream and the vision of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. The Mad-King, the Medemer Terror and the warlord of Ethiopia. It is in his vision to conquer and annex ocean territories and ports. That’s been his main motivation for years now and it continues endlessly.
Yes, we can all say the ruler of Asmara and the inner-circle of Eritrea isn’t much to go by. Yes, the whole system is rigged, manufactured and imposed on the population. The whole military overdrive and misuse of office, which isn’t even clever. No elections, no budgets and no institutional force to convince any single soul that the rulers are there as representatives of the people. However, that doesn’t make it right of another sovereign to conquer and takes it’s territories. No, that isn’t how it works out. You are just switching one devil for another, one king for another king. Therefore, the ones defending this enterprise is in folly. If they allow Abiy to annex and conquer Assab. What stops him from doing so in Somalia or anywhere else he pleases?
Just read this snippet of a recent speech from a high ranking official in Ethiopia…
“Clashing interests naturally create frictions between neighboring states. In the Eritrean case, what we have is something different. It is not Eritrea’s national interests or just the predatory tendencies of the regime that are dictating a hostile policy against Ethiopia. It is also the Eritrean leadership’s eagerness to act as a regional proxy for third parties that has made relations between the two countries very difficult. It could even be argued that this is a congenital defect of the Eritrean state. After all, from the very beginning, the Eritrean colony was established not with the intention of having a self-contained colony but an entity deliberately created from the get-go to block Ethiopia’s access to the sea and as a launching pad for a full-scale colonial invasion of Ethiopia. Eritrea was just the opening act in what was meant to be a full-fledged conquest of Ethiopia. Later on, other regional actors who wanted to weaken Ethiopia used the Eritrean liberation movements as an effective instrument to make Ethiopia bleed. Those patterns are still present and quite visible. So much so that we hear pronouncements from certain quarters that depict Eritrea as their protectorate. For those who want to use Eritrea as an instrument against Ethiopia, the raison d’être of the Eritrean state is to exclude Ethiopia from the Red Sea. For such forces, main function of the Eritrean government is to continue serving as an agent of chaos in the region. These third parties further fuel the Eritrean government’s inherent proclivity to creating havoc and mayhem in the Horn” (Speech by Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos at the Foreign Policy Forum on Developments in the Horn of Africa, 14.11.2025).
The ones who cannot see the picture. They cannot see the history and how it all returns. The rulers of today is no difference than the ones who was in power in the 1950s Ethiopia. They all wanted to have Eritrea and have it as a province under the guise of the leadership in Addis Ababa. That Abiy now wants Assab is an excuse for wanting the same.
I am sure that Abiy would love to do what Haile Selassie did…
“Within a few years, the federal arrangement between Ethiopia and Eritrea began to experience problems that cast doubt on its sustainability. In 1956, Ethiopia established Amharic as the official language of Eritrea, replacing Arabic and Tigrinya, which had been stipulated as official languages under the Eritrean Constitution. Ethiopia next forbade the use of the Eritrean flag, began referring to the Eritrean Government as the Eritrean “Administration” and, in 1959, imposed Ethiopian law on Eritrea. Finally, in November 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia dissolved the Eritrean Representative Assembly and declared Eritrea’s federal status void” (The United Nations and the Independence of Eritrea, 1996).
I know I am putting the foot forward here, but if the Ethiopian army was to enter Eritrea and trying to annex Assab. What stops it from taking it further and make it a province again? Why should it just go for Assab and Massawa? Seriously, if it is first doing a military enterprise and starting an occupation, why only take pieces of a territory and not the whole thing?
That’s what is bugging me. There is no justification for this that is reasonable. The ones using the doom and gloom look of the regime of Eritrea. Well, the current rulers of Ethiopia aren’t that astute or supreme either. Abiy and his ilk isn’t even wise at conceal it’s drive to consolidate power and use force to silence dissent. The weaponization of the courts and misuse of arms to mute opponents is well known now. So, please don’t try to justify it that way, as that is a losing argument. One tyrant isn’t better than another type of tyrant. Both are delivering tyranny, but just different manners or schemes to keep the people under their terror.
The historical claim should also be laid to rest, as others could use that about territories connected to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and how it has kept that way from it’s righteous owner. Should that be the Somali region (Ogaden) for instance, shouldn’t that be part of the Federation of Somalia and secondly, couldn’t Djibouti seek Afar region? You know, you open up a can of worms and those can never be returned, you know?
So, Addis Ababa should understand that these sentiments are only opening up old wounds. Neither is it doing anything critical. It isn’t like this is developing better relations in the Horn of Africa. Also, this is close to a “war-cry” and not a sign of peace. It is like the Ethiopian Government looks for any sort of reason and grounds to act with vile force. That’s what it looks like and we are just edging closer to another war between the Eritrean and Ethiopian brothers. That’s all for the love of the coast and the dream of the red sea. Peace.
MinBane 