Addis Abeba — Eritrea has urged the African Union (AU) to take urgent measures to restore its representation at the organization’s headquarters in Addis Abeba, saying Ethiopia’s expulsion of 10 Eritrean diplomats has effectively deprived the country of its rights to participate in the continental body’s activities.
In a letter dated October 12, 2026, and addressed to the AU Commission’s Bureau of the Chairperson, Eritrea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the October 1 decision by the Ethiopian government to declare 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata included its chargé d’affaires en pied, who also serves as the country’s permanent representative to the AU and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), as well as all three diplomatic staff assigned to cover the two institutions.
“By expelling the Permanent Representative and the entire diplomatic staff assigned to participate in AU and ECA, the Ethiopian Government has effectively deprived the State of Eritrea of its fundamental rights as a Member State to be represented at the AU and UNECA and to participate in their activities,” the letter stated.
Eritrea said its chargé d’affaires had verbally notified the AU Commission’s deputy chairperson of the matter on October 2, after being unable to reach the chairperson.
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The ministry argued that Ethiopia’s decision violated the AU’s founding principles and international agreements governing the organization’s headquarters in Addis Abeba. It cited Article 4(a) of the AU Constitutive Act, which establishes the sovereign equality of member states, and Article 15 of the AU Headquarters Agreement, which guarantees diplomatic privileges, immunities and facilities for accredited representatives.
The letter also cited the 1965 General Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Organization of African Unity, arguing that the expulsion obstructed Eritrea’s ability to carry out its official mandate at the AU headquarters.
“Eritrea’s statutory rights of membership in the African Union cannot be curtailed or compromised at the whim of another Member State,” the ministry said.
Eritrea called on the AU Commission to bring the matter urgently before the organization’s Executive Council and Assembly, urging them to take “immediate corrective measures” to restore its representation and ensure its full participation as a sovereign and equal member.
The diplomatic dispute follows a sharp deterioration in relations between Addis Abeba and Asmara. On October 1, Ethiopia declared 10 Eritrean diplomats based at the Eritrean Embassy in Addis Abeba and the country’s permanent mission to the AU and UNECA persona non grata, ordering them to leave within 48 hours. Ethiopia accused the diplomats of activities threatening national security and violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, amid renewed tensions over the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
Eritrea rejected the allegations as unwarranted and subsequently announced that it would sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia. Asmara accused Addis Abeba of pursuing a sustained campaign of hostility linked to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s stated ambition to secure sovereign access to the Red Sea.
The Ethiopian government’s actions followed its closure of its embassy in Asmara in August 2026, further undermining diplomatic channels between the two neighboring countries.
The dispute also raises questions about the distinction between bilateral diplomatic relations and the rights of AU member states to maintain representation at the organization’s headquarters. In its October 12 letter, Eritrea argued that while the opening and operation of embassies are governed by bilateral arrangements and international diplomatic law, a host country cannot unilaterally determine whether another AU member state may exercise its membership rights within the continental organization.
Diplomatic relations had been strained for years
The latest confrontation follows years of fragile diplomatic engagement after the 2018 rapprochement between Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, which formally ended two decades of hostility following Eritrea’s 1993 independence and the 1998-2000 border war.
In July 2018, the two leaders signed a Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship in Asmara, opening the way for the restoration of diplomatic relations and the exchange of ambassadors. Ethiopia appointed Redwan Hussein as its ambassador to Eritrea, while Eritrea appointed former education minister Semere Russom as its ambassador to Ethiopia in the same year.
However, the renewed diplomatic relations yielded little substantive progress beyond paving the way for a devastating two-year war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, during which Ethiopian and Eritrean forces fought alongside one another against Tigrayan forces. Both countries’ forces have been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict.
The rapprochement proved fragile even before the war formally ended. In April 2022, Addis Standard reported that Eritrea had replaced its ambassador to Ethiopia, Semere Russom, with Biniam Berhe as chargé d’affaires en pied, a diplomatic designation indicating that the post of ambassador was to remain permanently vacant. Biniam presented his credentials to Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials on March 30, 2022.
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At the time, Eritrea had also yet to accept the credentials of Ethiopia’s newly appointed ambassador to Asmara, Fikadu Beyen. His appointment followed earlier difficulties in establishing full ambassadorial representation between the two countries, with the credentials of previous Ethiopian envoys reportedly left unaccepted or delayed.
The developments signaled that diplomatic ties remained constrained even after the 2018 peace declaration, with both sides struggling to establish stable, fully functioning ambassadorial relations.
Relations have since deteriorated further following Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s public statements on Ethiopia’s quest for Red Sea access and, more recently, the resurgence of conflict in northern Ethiopia.
Eritrea’s latest appeal to the AU now places the dispute before the continental organization, whose headquarters are in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia’s capital. The AU Commission had not publicly responded to Eritrea’s October 12 letter at the time of publication.
