Eritrea publishes Ethiopian generals’ words on Assab as a Chinese envoy prepares to visit Asmara


A montage released by Eritrea's Ministry of Information showing President Isaias Afwerki arriving in Moscow and attending meetings during his visit to Russia

[file photo] A montage released by Eritrea’s Ministry of Information showing President Isaias Afwerki arriving in Moscow and at meetings during his visit to Russia for the Russia Africa summit in late October 2026, shared on X on November 3, 2026. Image: Ministry of Information, Eritrea (@shabait) via X

Eritrea’s information ministry published a list of statements it attributes to Ethiopian leaders and generals vowing to take Assab, days before a Chinese envoy for the Horn of Africa is due in Asmara.

The ministry posted the list on Tuesday, November 3, under the title “Ethiopia’s overtly declared war agenda against Eritrea,” calling it a collection of verbatim statements by senior Ethiopian officials about Eritrea’s sovereignty. Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel had shared the same material a day earlier with an introduction accusing the ruling Prosperity Party, which he calls the “Potemkin Party,” of running “a frenzied and deceitful diplomatic campaign” to dress up what he described as an unprovoked war against Eritrea as self defense.

The list opens with quotes it attributes to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, including his pledge that Ethiopia would gain sovereign access to the sea “through negotiations if possible and by force if necessary,” a passage in which he compared the Red Sea question to Israel’s hold on the Golan Heights, and a remark that he was “a million percent certain” Ethiopia would not remain landlocked. The quotes below are as published by the ministry; Mereja Media could not check the context of each. It then moves to the army. Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, the chief of staff, is quoted as saying Ethiopia would obtain sea access “through peace or through force,” and General Abebaw Tadesse, his deputy, is quoted as saying: “The offensive launched in Tigray will not stop there. Mekelle is a mere stop over; our ultimate destination is Assab.” Air Force commander General Yilma Merdasa is quoted as naming “the recovery of sovereign sea access, particularly through the Eritrean port of Assab” as the main goal.

The list goes beyond soldiers. It quotes Oromia regional president Shimelis Abdisa as saying the Irreecha festival would be celebrated in Assab next year, Addis Ababa mayor Adanech Abebe asking whether Ethiopians were “supposed to live forever” with the sea closed to them, and Daniel Kibret, a social affairs adviser to the prime minister, saying that once Ethiopia reaches the sea “the reason for Eritrea being Eritrea will cease.” Mereja Media could not check when or where every statement was made, and some appear to be translated or condensed from speeches in Amharic. The Ethiopian government did not respond publicly to the list on Tuesday. Abiy has said in the past, Mereja Media has reported, that Ethiopia has no wish to invade Eritrea and wants sea access through negotiation, while insisting that the issue is existential for his country.

In his introduction, Yemane also accused Addis Ababa of seeking, as early as 2022, an alliance against Eritrea with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, and of backing armed opposition groups to bring about regime change in Asmara. Neither the federal government nor the TPLF commented on that claim.

The list arrived as outside powers step up their attention. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday that Hu Changchun, the ministry’s special envoy for Horn of Africa affairs, would visit Eritrea in early November, and that Liu Xianfa, Beijing’s special representative on African affairs, would visit Ethiopia, Djibouti and Egypt in early to mid November, Xinhua reported. Mao said the trips were meant to promote peace talks, calm tensions and play a constructive role in keeping the region stable. President Isaias Afwerki, meanwhile, has spent the past week speaking to Russian audiences after attending the Russia Africa summit in Moscow, including in an interview with the Russian broadcaster RT that his supporters shared on X.

Eritreans online answered the ministry in very different ways. An Eritrean user who promotes the Eritrean Blue Revolution Front, an opposition group, and posts as Scofield (@merihwegihu), argued that the coast should be “the country’s greatest economic asset, not a political weapon,” and later wrote: “When Isaias Afwerki stands in Moscow and declares the African Union dead, he speaks for himself, not for the Eritrean people.” On the other side, an account promoting investment in Eritrea, @DahlaKib, defended the government’s vision for its ports: “Singapore turned its strategic location into a global economic powerhouse. Eritrea has a long Red Sea coastline and two strategic ports, Massawa and Assab. Why mock a vision of prosperity?”

Others turned the argument around. Redwaan (@Ina_guudcade), who describes himself as a journalist, wrote that by the logic Isaias had applied to Russia and Crimea, Ethiopia could claim Assab. “Isaias, does he even hear himself?” he wrote. Fiseha Weldemichael (@fiseha20), an Eritrean user, wrote that the Abiy government had said openly in public media and even in parliament that Assab is historically Ethiopian and that it must own a coast “by love or by force,” which he presented as proof of the threat the ministry described.

Sources

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