The African Union (AU) Commission has expressed its concern over the increase in tension between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Egypt, and has called on the three countries to act with the utmost restraint to prevent an escalation that could jeopardize peace and stability in the region.
In an official statement, the continental body urges these three member states to avoid any gesture or declaration that could increase the climate of confrontation. In this regard, the Commission demands "maximum self-restraint" and emphasizes the importance of safeguarding regional stability.
The AU also underscores the relevance of keeping communication channels open and operational between the parties, and urges the Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian governments to channel their disagreements through existing diplomatic mechanisms and through peaceful dialogue.
According to the Commission, this call must be framed within the principles established in the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which sets the foundations for the actions of both the organization and its member states.
In light of the current scenario, the Commission also expresses its willingness to engage as support in initiatives aimed at reducing tension. "The AU Commission is ready, in consultation with the involved countries, to support efforts towards de-escalation, dialogue, and the peaceful resolution of differences," states the note released by the African institution.
The African Union's statement comes after Ethiopia announced on Friday the closure of its Embassy in Eritrea and the expulsion of ten Eritrean diplomats from its territory, in response to what it has described as "direct and indirect acts of hostility," in a context marked by the offensive launched a week ago by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the north of the country.
Eritrea's reaction has come through its Information Minister, Yemane Meskel, who has communicated the break of diplomatic relations with the neighboring country and has warned of "all the negative consequences that this entails."
This exchange of measures occurs, in turn, a week after the TPLF proclaimed the beginning of a "defensive war" against the Ethiopian federal forces, alleging "the intensification of the invasion (...) by the autocratic and genocidal regime of the Prosperity Party (PP) of Abiy --referring to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed-- against the people of Tigray," after weeks of tension and a resurgence of attacks despite the peace agreement signed in 2022 in South Africa.
The aforementioned pact, sealed in Pretoria after two years of war in northern Ethiopia, established that Tigray would remain under a provisional government accepted by the federal authorities. However, at the beginning of May, the TPLF took control of the regional institutions, which triggered new frictions and mutual accusations of breaching the agreement.
In October 2025, Ethiopia accused Eritrea of collaborating with a faction of the TPLF to "launch a war" against the country, after the conflict fought between 2020 and 2022, in which Eritrea supported the government forces against the Tigrinya rebel group.