Defense Official Frames Assab as Vital to Ethiopia’s Survival, Rejects Transitional-Era Decision
Ethiopia’s military leadership has described access to the Red Sea as a matter of “life itself,” reviving claims over the port of Assab on the basis of historical right, geographical proximity and national security, while challenging the legitimacy of decisions made during the country’s political transition in the 1990s.
Major General Teshome Gemachu, Director of External Relations and Military Cooperation at the Ministry of Defence, said Ethiopia’s maritime question could no longer be deferred. “Assab was ours, and today the Red Sea issue has become a matter of our life,” he remarked in a widely circulated video. “When we talk about our life, we will pay whatever price is necessary.”
The general framed sea access in existential terms, warning that Ethiopian cities, including Addis Ababa, could be vulnerable to missile threats from the Red Sea. He added that a naval presence would be critical to securing the country’s future, while maintaining that Ethiopia sought to resolve the matter through diplomatic channels.
Citing international law, Major General Teshome argued that Ethiopia’s “distance factor”—its position less than 60 kilometres from the Red Sea—fell below thresholds typically considered for sovereign sea access. He listed four justifications for Ethiopia’s claim: a historical connection to Assab, its geographical proximity to the Red Sea, the existential nature of maritime access, and the security risks of remaining without a navy.
He also challenged the political settlement of the early 1990s, asserting that the transitional government lacked the mandate to cede Assab and that Ethiopia’s rights over the port were never formally surrendered.
Ethiopia, the most populous landlocked country in the world, has been without direct access to the sea since Eritrea’s independence in 1993. It now relies almost entirely on Djibouti for its trade, though Addis Ababa has pursued alternative arrangements with Somaliland, Sudan and Kenya in recent years.
The general’s remarks were followed a day later by comments from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during a televised interview ahead of the official launch of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Drawing a parallel between the Nile and the Red Sea, he said: “The Nile was a thousand-year mistake—today it has been corrected. The Red Sea was a mistake from yesterday, from thirty years ago. That too will be corrected.
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