Ethiopian state media intensified a campaign between 17 and 22 July asserting that the country has a historical, legal and economic entitlement to Eritrea’s port of Assab, according to the Ethiopian News Agency.
The campaign began on 17 July with comments from Libyan professor Saad Salama, who said international law gives landlocked states a right of access to the sea and argued that Ethiopia should pursue the issue through regional cooperation.
On 18 July, Gebru Asrat, a former chief administrator of Ethiopia’s Tigray Regional State, called maritime access an existential necessity and proposed a specialised commission or ministry to prepare the technical, legal and historical case for bodies including the African Union and the United Nations.
The messaging then moved beyond transit rights. Assab and Massawa were presented as maritime gateways over which Ethiopia has a historical and legal claim, while Assab was called the country’s “natural gateway”. Maritime access was also framed as a “red line” covering sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and access to international markets.
On 21 July, Addis Ababa residents Seble Mekuria, Hachalu Wako and Senait Dereje backed efforts to recover what they regarded as a national resource, while calling for negotiation and international law rather than coercion.
By 22 July, the campaign included a claim that Assab had held autonomous status before Eritrea’s independence and therefore had not been part of Eritrea. The argument was used to support calls for Ethiopia to restore ownership of a maritime outlet.
Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea became independent in 1993. Around 90% of the country’s import and export trade is routed through Djibouti. Assab was a major Ethiopian trade outlet before commercial traffic through Eritrea stopped after the 1998-2000 border conflict.