What is Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed thinking?
Fresh from a two-year civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people died and the economy went from one of Africa’s best performing to the verge of default, Abiy has chosen to threaten his neighbors.
In a public lecture, the Nobel Peace Prize winner warned that there’s a risk of conflict if his landlocked nation doesn’t secure direct access to the Red Sea.
The lack of access to harbors “prevents Ethiopia from holding the place it ought to have,” Abiy said in the televised speech. “If this is not going to happen, there will be no fairness and justice and if there is no fairness and justice, it’s a matter of time, we will fight.”
He invoked a 19th century Abyssinian warrior who had proclaimed the Red Sea as Ethiopia’s “natural boundary.” […] CONTINUE READING
