By - Reporter
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ASMARA, 20 October 2026 The Eritrean government has rejected Ethiopia’s claim that it is “reclaiming” access to the sea after Ethiopian state media outlet Fana published a report on rebuilding the country’s navy.
Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said in a post on X that Ethiopia cannot “reclaim ports and a maritime route” that it never owned, except during the federation and annexation periods, which he described as illegitimate.
“Annexation and forceful occupation do not confer historical or legal title to the occupying entity,” Yemane said, adding that this is a basic principle of international law.
Yemane’s response came after Fana Media Corporation, an Ethiopian state-owned media outlet, published an article on 19 October through its Arabic service titled “The Navy: A Shield Protecting Ethiopia’s National Interests.”
The article said Ethiopia had been subjected to political conspiracies that stripped it of its historical maritime outlets, and that the government had determined that regaining sea access is an existential and vital matter. Fana noted that the Ethiopian navy was founded in 1956, dismantled following geopolitical changes and revived in 2019.
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The commander of the Ethiopian Navy, Admiral Kindu Gizaw, said in the article that the institution is building its capacity to protect national assets and counter security threats in waterways.
Yemane described the article as an attempt to package a war of aggression in “historical and strategic” terms. He said the Eritrean people paid a heavy price when their right to decolonisation was denied in the 1940s, forcing them to wage Africa’s longest liberation struggle.
“To deny and denigrate Eritrea’s independence constitutes yet another transgression and political blasphemy of the highest order,” the minister said.
The dispute comes as tensions between the two countries have reached a very high level. In early October, Ethiopia closed its embassy in Asmara and expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats, while Eritrea responded by closing its embassy in Addis Ababa and cutting diplomatic ties.
Ethiopia, which became landlocked after Eritrea’s independence in 1993, has repeatedly insisted that it has a right to sea access, which Eritrea views as a threat to seize its port of Assab.