According to Ethiopia’s former president, Mulatu Teshome, Eritrea, under President Isaias Afwerki’s authoritarian rule, has repeatedly embroiled itself in regional conflicts, including those in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia. After a brief reconciliation in 2018 ended a long Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict, Eritrean forces intervened when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rebelled against the Ethiopian federal government. The 2022 Pretoria Peace Agreement halted the fighting. But, according to Teshome, Eritrea is again stoking tensions—this time by supporting dissenting elements within the TPLF. Teshome warns that renewed conflict would destabilize Ethiopia and the entire region, potentially causing a chain reaction from the Sahel to the Red Sea. He claims such a situation will have global economic and security consequences and urges diplomatic pressure to preserve the Pretoria agreement and encourage peaceful regional development.
Source: Aljazeera
