Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed (PhD) has reaffirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to regional peace and stability, emphasizing that there is no intention of using force to secure access to a seaport in Eritrea yesterday in the 21st Regular Session of the House of Peoples Representative.
Addressing concern over rising tensions, the Premier elucidated that Ethiopia does not rummage around for to resolve the Red Sea access issue through conflict or market-based principles. Instead, Ethiopia aims to engage in peaceful dialogue and cooperation with its neighbors.
It is a platitude to say that the rule of law should prevail in international relations. The rule of law implies “the subordination of all authorities, legislative, executive, judicial, and other to certain principles which would generally be accepted as characteristic of law, such as the ideas of the fundamental principles of justice, moral principles, fairness and due process.”
As a result, political or policy contemplations in favor of national benefits without heed to their legal implications are outside the realm of law. In addition, the principle of the rule of law is simple to articulate, yet often challenging to implement in reality, where differing national interests and cultural-historical contexts frequently clash that the international community should pay attention to.
Despite some uncertainty of its concept, however, the rule of law should be the governing principle for the conduct of States in their mutual relations. That is why the Prime Minister emphasized: “We have no desire for war or conflict with any neighboring country over access to a seaport. The Eritrean people are our brothers, and we must grow together.”
At the same time, Ethiopia is confident in its national security and defense capabilities, stating that no external force can hinder the country’s development ambitions. “No country can invade Ethiopia or stop us from pursuing our dreams by force. We are fully prepared to prevent war and ensure our national interests,” the premier asserted.
Here is why it is important to prioritize peaceful use of sea resources as stated in the Article 88 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which provides: “The high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes.”
Unsurprisingly, this may not routinely apply to all sea areas but, in view of its clear intent, may be applicable mutatis mutandis to the exclusive economic zone where non-coastal States may have a share in the living resources on the basis of specific arrangements with the coastal State. And it is essential to note that Ethiopia used to own a sea coast before the independence of Eritrea.
And as stated in the article that the living resources are absolutely necessary for everyday life of the populations in the coastal State, but “[w]here the coastal State does not have the capacity to harvest the entire allowable catch, it shall … give other States access to the surplus of the allowable catch ….” So, all the neighboring nations need to be open for a peaceful negotiation for the benefits of their surrounding nations instead of just warmongering wasting the natural resource.
It also has no use to speculate war instead of enhancing grounds for peaceful and lawful negotiations. The Premier did right by dismissing speculation about conflicts with Somalia, reaffirming Ethiopia’s commitment to peaceful negotiations and regional stability.
Ethiopia’s consistent efforts to mediate disputes among its neighbors, reinforcing its role as a champion of diplomacy in the Horn of Africa need not to be taken for grant. However, for Ethiopia, access to the Red Sea has a strategic importance as he described, it as a matter of national survival for its population of over 132 million which must not be undermined in every aspect of development.
As the premier urged the international community to facilitate dialogue on the issue calling for constructive engagement with regional stakeholders to find a sustainable solution, it is essential to enact the United Nations Convention before conflicts arise. The laws need not be put there simply for the sake of articulation.
Ethiopia’s stance on peaceful and lawful will for negotiation need to be realized and understood by international community. “If the international community truly wants a resolution, we must engage in discussions with our neighbors. We welcome all those who are committed to peace and cooperation,” as the premier noted in briefing on the matter yesterday.
This demonstrates Ethiopia’s trust in the international neutral peaceful influence. And Ethiopia believes that full benefits from the resources may be ensured by peaceful means of exploitation. Should there be disagreement among the neighboring coastal States as to an effective use of the resources, it could lead on to an abusive use by some impudent States to the exclusion of others – a state of lawlessness.
Protecting fishing vessels by some accompanying warships from possible coast guard interventions of the coastal State, as was occasionally evidenced in the South China Sea, is by no means a peaceful act. That aggressive State is taking advantage of the non-existence of a legal arrangement for fishing in the sea area in question.
To take Japan’s fishing arrangements, for example, it has a fishing agreement of 1998 with South Korea in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea and another of 1997 with China in the East China Sea. Both are naturally results of political compromise and have some defects respectively as directly stated in the Asian Yearbook of International Law, Volume 22 (2016), authored by Miyoshi Masahiro.
The author further noted that even with some such defective aspects, they are workable arrangements. The most recent fisheries arrangement in the East China Sea is that of 10 April 2013 with Taiwan, which responds to the daily needs of fishermen from Taiwan who used to fish in the waters near the Senkaku Islands but have been virtually excluded from those waters over the past few decades.
With respect to non-living resources, however, the basic legal order in which Japan is placed is not complete. It has two continental shelf agreements of 1974 with South Korea, but no agreement yet.
The matter is much worse in its relations with China: it has no basic agreement on the continental shelf. All it has in this regard is a broad arrangement by means of a brief press release of 2008 for joint development of natural gas in the East China Sea.
This has yet to be completed by further implementing arrangements, though no effective results have since been achieved it indicates a room for peaceful negotiation for bordering Africans as well. Like today’s Ethiopia, Japan has been calling on China for a re-start of negotiations for implementation. Likewise, on 18 June 2008, the Governments of Japan and China issued a brief joint press release on “Co-operation between Japan and China in the East China Sea,” composed of two instruments of understanding.
To sum up, these arrangements and documents are very encouraging for peaceful and lawful negotiations for mutual benefits instead of warmongering.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
BY DIRRIBA TESHOME
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 21 MARCH 2025
