{"id":180881,"date":"2026-11-10T09:57:54","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T14:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/?p=180881"},"modified":"2026-11-10T09:57:54","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T14:57:54","slug":"eritreas-information-ministry-says-asmara-will-not-negotiate-its-sovereignty-under-any-circumstances-days-after-ethiopias-navy-chief-spoke-of-other-altern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/180881","title":{"rendered":"Eritrea\u2019s Information Ministry Says Asmara Will Not Negotiate Its Sovereignty \u2018Under Any Circumstances,\u2019 Days After Ethiopia\u2019s Navy Chief Spoke of \u2018Other Alternatives\u2019 for Sea Access"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vice<\/p>\n

Vice Admiral Kindu Gezu, commander of the Ethiopian Navy, at the Africa Logistics and Communications Symposium in Addis Ababa on July 27, 2026. File photo. Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samuel Wagner (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/p>\n

Eritrea\u2019s Ministry of Information said in a Tigrigna commentary on Monday that the country\u2019s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity are not open to bargaining and that Eritrea will not make concessions or hold talks on them \u201cunder any circumstances,\u201d two days after Ethiopia\u2019s navy commander was reported as saying that Ethiopia would win back sea access \u201cthrough diplomacy, law, or other alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commentary, which takes its title from the Tigrigna proverb \u201cHe who seeks what is not his wears out like a shoe,\u201d was posted by the ministry on its X account (@shabait<\/a>) and on its website, Shabait<\/a>, and Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel shared parts of it on his own account<\/a>. The ministry said in a reply on X<\/a> that the piece was a commentary being broadcast to Eritreans on radio and television and in newspapers, and Shabait files it under Editorial. \u201cThe sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the State of Eritrea are non-negotiable, inviolable and absolute,\u201d it said, adding that the government had followed \u201ca strategy of great patience and restraint\u201d in the face of what it called continuing provocation and a planned campaign against the country (our translation from Tigrigna).<\/p>\n

The commentary accused Ethiopia\u2019s ruling Prosperity Party of openly breaking international agreements and law in an intense drive to take control of Eritrea\u2019s sovereign waters \u201cwillingly or by force,\u201d on grounds the party describes as \u201cstrategic importance\u201d or \u201ceconomic interest,\u201d and said this put international law, the UN Charter, African Union decisions and Africa\u2019s borders at risk. It said Eritrea, while ready for peace, would not make concessions or negotiate on its sovereignty \u201cunder any circumstances, whether through preconditions or threats of violence,\u201d and that it had an inalienable right under international law to defend itself against a government it accused of trying to invade what is not its own and push the region into deeper crisis. It repeated a line President Isaias Afwerki used in May 1998: \u201cWe will not give what is ours, and we do not want what is not ours.\u201d The commentary offered no evidence for its accusations and did not name any Ethiopian official.<\/p>\n

Kindu Gezu\u2019s remarks were reported on Saturday by Sputnik Africa<\/a>, whose correspondent attended a symposium for former military and police personnel in Addis Ababa. Kindu called the loss of sea access one of the tragedies of Ethiopia\u2019s history and said the country\u2019s link to the Red Sea \u201chas existed for thousands of years,\u201d and he said that \u201cthrough diplomacy, law, or other alternative\u201d the Ethiopian people and government would regain the port and sea access lost \u201cthrough illegal means,\u201d according to Sputnik. He did not say what the other alternative would be or name any country. HahuPrime<\/a>, citing Somali Report, said he also stressed that Ethiopia\u2019s demand was not driven by territorial expansion or plans for military aggression and that dialogue under international law remained the preferred route.<\/p>\n

BBC Tigrinya<\/a>, in its report on the Eritrean commentary, said Kindu had described the way Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia as unjust and illegal and had spoken of force as a last option \u201cto return Assab to its motherland\u201d if diplomacy fails (our translation from Tigrigna). DefenceMENA<\/a> said it could not find a transcript or report of the speech from the Ethiopian News Agency or the army, and that the word \u201cunjust,\u201d which appeared in an Arabic post about the speech on X, was not in the reports it reviewed. Zegabi has not seen a full recording or transcript of the speech. On Oct. 30, after a regional maritime forum in Addis Ababa, Kindu had said that Ethiopia\u2019s return to a seaport was inevitable and needed dialogue with neighboring states, The Abay Times<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

On X, Freweini Ghebresadick (@Freweini_Ghebre<\/a>), who says in her bio that she is American by nationality and Eritrean by birth, wrote on Monday that \u201cMaj. Gen. Kindu Gezu Tegegn has again spoken about invading Eritrea,\u201d adding: \u201cNothing in this speech concerns commercial port access. He threatens military action against a sovereign state.\u201d An account named Getachew (@GetachewFa5067<\/a>), whose Amharic bio reads \u201cstanding for the country with conviction,\u201d quoted Yemane\u2019s post on Monday and wrote in Tigrigna that Ethiopia would \u201cfrom now on not accept\u201d what he called Eritrea\u2019s policy of hostility and envy over the port of Assab, and that Eritrea had let much of the port go unused and its surroundings become \u201can economically forgotten desert\u201d (our translation).<\/p>\n

The commentary came as outside powers have stepped up their contacts with both governments, BBC Tigrinya reported. Russia\u2019s foreign minister said at the start of the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow late last month that Moscow was ready to host talks between Eritrea and Ethiopia if their leaders showed willingness, and no meeting between the two leaders is known to have taken place. China\u2019s special envoy for African affairs, Liu Xianfa, met Ethiopia\u2019s foreign minister, Gedion Timothewos, in Addis Ababa on Nov. 4, and China\u2019s special envoy for Horn of Africa affairs, Hu Changchun, met Isaias in Asmara on Nov. 5, and BBC Tigrinya said neither Russia nor China had put forward a formal mediation framework. The African Union\u2019s commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Bankole Adeoye, said last week that former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta was carrying out shuttle diplomacy and that the Algiers and Pretoria agreements should guide the effort, The Abay Times<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Oct. 21<\/a>, Eritrea\u2019s Foreign Ministry said there was no \u201cgood faith dispute\u201d between Eritrea and Ethiopia, called the country\u2019s sovereignty \u201cnon-negotiable, inviolable, and sacrosanct,\u201d and said Eritrean forces were stationed inside Eritrea\u2019s internationally recognized borders. Zegabi found no public response to Monday\u2019s commentary from Ethiopia\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government Communication Service or the military by Tuesday morning, and found no official explanation from the authorities in Addis Ababa of what Kindu meant by \u201cother alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n