{"id":838026,"date":"2026-10-20T15:47:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T19:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838026"},"modified":"2026-10-20T15:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T19:47:23","slug":"prime-minister-abiy-ahmed-warns-eritrea-of-very-very-very-severe-consequences-in-tigrinya-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838026","title":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed warns Eritrea of “very, very, very severe” consequences in Tigrinya interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during his Tigrinya-language interview with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, in a still from the video he posted on Monday, October 19, 2026. (Photo: @AbiyAhmedAli via X)<\/em><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed warned Eritrea on Monday that ignoring Ethiopia's calls would have "very, very, very severe" consequences, AFP reported from his Tigrinya-language interview with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).<\/p>\n

"Serving as a base for Ethiopia's enemies instead of being a partner in development will not bring benefits. I believe that ignoring our calls will have very, very, very severe consequences," the prime minister said, according to AFP's translation. BBC Amharic, which reported the same warning in Amharic as "\u12a5\u1305\u130d \u12a5\u1305\u130d \u12a5\u1305\u130d \u12a8\u1263\u12f5", quoted him as saying that when a country can be a partner in development, it does not pay to choose to be "a plaything of enemies." Addis Standard, in a summary it posted on X, rendered the warning as "extremely severe" consequences if the government in Asmara keeps rejecting Ethiopia's call for peace and regional cooperation.<\/p>\n

The interview was posted on Monday afternoon ET, Monday evening in Addis Ababa, Tikimt 9, 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar, on the X accounts of the prime minister and his office. BBC Amharic said it ran for 27 minutes, was carried by other Gov't media as well as EBC, and was devoted mostly to criticism of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). According to BBC Amharic, the prime minister accused the Eritrean government, which he called by the acronym of the ruling People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), of abandoning development and the building of institutions to become "an instrument of Ethiopia's enemies." Such behavior, he said, damages the natural ties between neighbors.<\/p>\n

A large part of his message was about Eritrea's economy. BBC Amharic reported that he described Eritrean cities that had been "flourishing" before independence as having shrunk "to the size of villages," and said that Asmara today is a smaller city than Arba Minch or Jigjiga. He said Eritrea had more than 300 factories when it was part of Ethiopia and was then one of the most industrialized places in Africa. "Massawa has been left empty, and Assab has become a town without people. The Eritrean people have lost everything they had after independence," he said, according to BBC Amharic, in Mereja's translation. AFP quoted a similar passage: "When Eritrea was part of Ethiopia, its cities were vibrant and beautiful. Today, Eritrean cities seem like ghost towns." He added, according to AFP, that "good neighbourly relations and partnership are the only way forward."<\/p>\n

The prime minister did not name the foreign powers that he said stand behind the Eritrean government. BBC Amharic quoted him as saying that those who encourage Asmara cannot solve Eritrea's problems "beyond handing over bullets," and that a party which has not solved its own problems cannot solve anyone else's. BBC Amharic noted that Ethiopia has repeatedly accused Eritrea of backing armed groups fighting the federal government, including the TPLF, and of working with other foreign actors such as Sudan and Egypt.<\/p>\n

On Tigray, AFP quoted him as saying, "The TPLF did not exist 50 years ago, and now its existence is coming to an end." Addis Standard reported that he called on Tigrayan youth to abandon armed struggle and accused TPLF leaders of prolonging the conflict at the expense of the region's people.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel answered the interview on X. He wrote that the prime minister, "reading from a teleprompter," had disparaged Eritrea's economic development, and that the interview "was also laced with his three-year old threats of war of aggression and invasion unless Eritrea succumbs to his delusional projects of 'sovereign access to the sea' and 'Ethiopian naval presence' in Eritrea's coastal territory." He said the 300 factories the prime minister mentioned "were old factories built during Italy's colonization of Eritrea," many of which he said were later dismantled by the British Military Administration and by the Haile Selassie government. A few hours before the video was posted on Monday, Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel answered an article on Ethiopia's navy published by Fana's Arabic service. "Ethiopia cannot 'reclaim ports and maritime route' that it never owned except during its illicit presence in the bogus 'Federation' and annexation periods," he wrote on X on Monday. "Annexation and forceful occupation do not confer historical\/legal title to the occupying entity." He added that to deny and denigrate Eritrea's independence "constitutes yet another transgression and political blasphemy of the highest order." Dawan Africa reported that the Fana article was titled "The Navy: A Shield Protecting Ethiopia's National Interests."<\/p>\n

Mereja has asked the Government Communication Service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm or deny whether the consequences the prime minister mentioned include military action, and will update this story with any response.<\/p>\n

The war of words comes as relations between the two neighbors are at their lowest point in years. BBC Amharic recalled that Ethiopia told the United Nations in a letter that it had been invaded by Eritrea and had no choice but to defend itself, while Eritrea answered in its own letter to the Security Council that Ethiopia was trying to justify a war "in the name of self-defense." Ethiopia expelled Eritrean diplomats, and Eritrea then announced it was cutting diplomatic relations with Ethiopia completely. Mereja reported on October 15 on the different accounts Washington and Addis Ababa gave of a call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the tensions, and on October 17 on Russia's offer to host talks.<\/p>\n

On X, reactions followed familiar lines. The account @samrihailunu wrote that the prime minister had warned "the Eritrean regime against continued destabilization." @kotet_amharic, which describes itself as a source of world news in Amharic, summarized the AFP and DW reports with the line "Eritrea denies it," referring to the accusation that Asmara backs rebels. Mowliid Haji Abdi, founder and CEO of Horn Broadcasting Network, posted AFP's account and noted that the prime minister also accused the TPLF of violating the Pretoria agreement by refusing to disarm. Martin Plaut shared a translated excerpt of the interview on his blog.<\/p>\n

Translations from BBC Amharic are Mereja's.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the prime minister was in Eldoret, Kenya, as guest of honor at the Mashujaa Day celebrations, a Kenyan national holiday, his office said on X.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n