Mereja.Forum

NationalEr Interest
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Amba. Sophia's Comments |• Was thinking the same this morning as I read some of the posts and listened to the bombastic interviews.

Some in #Ethiopia still believe ambition can redraw maps. Wave a population statistic, cite ancient empires, and suddenly the Red Sea is a “birthright.” The same tired fantasy has resurfaced: that #Ethiopia somehow “deserves” access to the sea, that being landlocked is a historical injustice, that a coastline is a “strategic imperative” to be negotiated. This is not foreign policy. It is cartographic wishful thinking disguised as strategy… ambition replacing law and nostalgia replacing diplomacy. #Ethiopia|s population, ambitions, or economic growth do not override #Eritrea|s hard-won independence.

Unfortunately, once again, #Ethiopia|s military leaders are heard echoing the language of empire: “We need it, therefore it’s ours.” This is not strategy; it is delusion in uniform, dangerous nostalgia repackaged as geopolitical logic. Some of these leaders act as if proximity equals entitlement: flash a population statistic, issue a press release, and suddenly the sea becomes “yours.”

Dangerous provocations continue from the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. First, he claimed to have “solved” a centuries-old problem with the building of a dam. Now, apparently emboldened, he believes he can solve the Red Sea “issue” with the same hubris, treating sovereignty and international law as if they were just engineering problems to be redesigned at will.

Geography is not destiny. No matter how many press releases #Ethiopia|s leaders’ issue or population stats they flash, the sea doesn’t magically become theirs. If proximity alone dictated entitlement, Europe would still be one big reunion tour, borders constantly redrawn at the whim of the biggest or boldest neighbor.

Some Ethiopian elites seem to operate under that same fantasy. They boast of “3,000 years of civilization” yet appear to have missed the memo on international law, the African Union and UN Charters, and the sanctity of borders. Apparently, in their world, history grants “manifest destiny” by default, because who needs treaties when you have ambition and a good story?

Over the past 70 years, this obsession for an “outlet to the sea” has fueled multiple conflicts, full-scale wars, border skirmishes, and military standoffs, leaving tens of thousands dead, countless more wounded or maimed, and generations scarred by violence. Families were uprooted, communities destroyed, and both nations’ economies destabilized as resources were diverted to war instead of development. Infrastructure crumbled under repeated attacks, trade and industry suffered, and social cohesion frayed.

What began as a strategic fixation of an Emperor has become a costly, recurring national trauma—yet the pursuit persists, feeding myths that come at the expense of ordinary people, who continue to bear the brunt of ambitions that cannot be realized without trampling on sovereignty. The region too has already paid for this pipedream…and the same myth is now regurgitated by the current rulers: that prosperity lies just beyond someone else’s border. No Horn citizen needs to pay the price for such fantasies drifting further out to sea.

It is time to stop the rhetoric that the sea is Ethiopia’s “right by geography,” as if maps override international law. Being near the Red Sea or having a population that is larger than neighboring states does not grant ownership. Proximity is not entitlement, and sovereignty is not a popularity contest. Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia are not “spare coastlines” waiting to be reassigned.

Being landlocked is a logistical challenge, not a historic injustice. It can be solved through trade and diplomacy, not manufactured grievances or coercion. Population, nostalgia, or ambition can never justify expansionist claims. Statehood is grounded in consent, law, and sovereignty, not in cartographic wishful thinking.

As has been said many times before, Eritrea’s Red Sea is not for rent. Eritrea is not a shortcut, a bargaining chip, or a means to someone else’s geopolitical or economic end. Sovereignty is not a group project. No matter how many doors are knocked, or letters sent, sovereignty belongs to individual nations. Ethiopia’s internal needs or regional ambitions do not entitle it to override Eritrea’s. Borders and statehood are not open-source problems for others to co-manage or redefine.

No press release, demographic figure, or historical chest-beating grants one state the right to another’s coastline. Sovereignty does not dissolve under pressure, nor yield to fantasies. Eritrea’s independence was not a fluke. Its borders are recognized under the UN Charter, affirmed through a UN-backed referendum, and upheld by every international norm of sovereignty and non-aggression. No statistic, slogan, or myth of “destiny” can undo that. Eritrea will not be a pawn on anyone’s maritime chessboard.

So, let’s put it plainly: population size is not a passport, and nostalgia is not a negotiating tool. Borders are upheld by diplomacy and law, not by myths or ancient maps. The sea is not a birthright; it is someone else’s home. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s coastline. Even if it comes with a killer view of the Red Sea…!"