Eritrea severs diplomatic ties with Ethiopia after diplomat expulsions

Eritrea said on Thursday it was breaking all diplomatic ties with its neighbour Ethiopia, in response to the earlier expulsion of its diplomats from Addis Ababa.

“Eritrea has no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia with all the negative corollaries that this entails,” the Eritrean foreign ministry said in a statement posted on X, according to AFP.

The announcement, reported by Al Arabiya English on Thursday evening, marks a sharp rupture in the relationship between the two neighbours. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed an initial declaration of peace in July 2018.

The break follows a rapid escalation of the conflict in northern Ethiopia. The Tigray regional government has announced it is fighting a defensive war against federal forces, and explosions have been reported in the capital Addis Ababa in recent days. Ethiopia’s army chief has accused Eritrea of backing armed movements opposed to the Addis Ababa government, a claim Asmara has rejected.

Neither government had released a fuller response to the diplomatic break beyond the Eritrean foreign ministry statement late on Thursday.