• Ethiopia declares Egyptian diplomat persona non grata, orders him to leave within 48 hours

Ethiopia accused neighboring Eritrea of “acts of hostility and belligerence,” ordered the closure of its embassy there and ordered ten Eritrean diplomats to leave on Tursday.

Asmara responded by severing diplomatic relations, further escalating tensions amid the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia between the Ethiopian army and anti-government groups.

Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry announced the closure of its embassy in Asmara “in response to Eritrea’s direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence against Ethiopia” and declared ten Eritrean diplomats persona non grata, accusing them of carrying out “pose a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security.”

The two neighbors had only restored diplomatic relations in 2018, after severing ties during a full-scale war between 1998 and 2000, followed by 18 years of strained relations.

Eritrea says it will sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia following expulsion of 10 diplomats.

“Eritrea has no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia with all the negative corollaries that this entails,” Eritrea’s Foreign Ministry responded, adding that its chargé d’affaires in Ethiopia was among the diplomats ordered to leave.

“In reality, it is Ethiopia which has been pursuing an agenda of incessant hostility,” it said, adding that Addis Ababa had waged war against Eritrea to gain access to the Red Sea.

It also accused Ethiopia of hosting, training and arming Eritrean opposition groups to stoke internal conflict.

Ethiopia also declared an Egyptian diplomat persona non grata and ordered to leave the country within 48 hours on Thursday. The decision was announced in a formal notification sent to the Egyptian Embassy in Addis Ababa concerning Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Soliman, a member of Egypt’s diplomatic staff. The note did not give a reason for the move. Relations between Ethiopia and Egypt are strained over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.