Ethiopia Shuts Embassy in Asmara, Expels Ten Eritrean Diplomats

ADDIS ABABA, 1 October 2026 — Ethiopia has closed its embassy in Asmara and declared ten Eritrean diplomats persona non grata, in the sharpest diplomatic rupture between the two Horn of Africa neighbours since their 2018 rapprochement.

In a press statement issued Thursday, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the closure was a response to what it called Eritrea’s “direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence” against Ethiopia. The ten expelled diplomats, based in Addis Ababa, were accused of activities posing a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security, in breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. They have been given 48 hours to leave the country.

The ministry did not detail the alleged activities. It urged the Eritrean government to stop all acts “contrary to the principles governing relations between sovereign states.”

Despite the tough measures, the statement struck a conciliatory note. It said Ethiopia values its historical, cultural and people-to-people ties with Eritrea and remains committed to peaceful dispute resolution and to working with Horn of Africa states toward lasting peace, security and regional integration.

As of publication, Asmara had not publicly responded.

Background

The move reverses a landmark thaw. Ethiopia and Eritrea expelled each others’ envoys at the start of a 1998-2000 border war that killed around 80,000 people. In 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Isaias Afwerki re-opened Ethiopia’s embassy in Asmara in a brief ceremony, following an agreement signed in Asmara on July 9 to restore ties — part of the peace effort for which Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Relations have since cooled amid disagreements over the 2022 Pretoria agreement that ended the Tigray war and Ethiopia’s push for access to the Red Sea. (Eritrea reopens embassy in Addis Ababa in fresh sign of thaw with Ethiopia.