Ethiopia's Institute of Foreign Affairs published on 11 February 2026 an article titled "Ethiopia's Diplomacy, Eritrea's Escalation, and the Future of the Horn of Africa" by Bemnet Alemayehu.
Ethiopia's minister of foreign affairs sent a letter on 7 February to his counterpart in Eritrea expressing serious concern over Eritrea's military penetration deeper into Ethiopia's northeastern border areas. Ethiopia charged the troops violate the country's territorial integrity and demanded their immediate withdrawal. At the same time, Ethiopia called for diplomatic engagement to avoid reciprocal military escalation.
Ethiopia Insight published on 23 February 2026 a commentary titled "Ethiopia's Ambiguous Letter Said More Than It Stated" by Dahilon Yassin Mohamoda.
The author raises interesting questions about the substance and form of the letter.
A facsimile of the 7 February letter between the two foreign ministers has been posted online. Read it and decide for yourself what kind of message Ethiopia is sending to Eritrea and the world. Is the letter an example of what Professor Don Levine called Ethiopia's Amharic tradition of "Wax and Gold?"
