Ethiopia Says Lack of Port Access Can Fuel Future Conflict

  • Prime minister calls for talks with neighbors on harbor access
  • Issue raised amid growing tension with neighboring Eritrea

Abiy Ahmed

Photographer: Amanuel Sileshi/AFP/Getty Images

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Ethiopia’s lack of access to a port on the Red Sea is a potential source of future conflict with neighboring countries, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said, raising the prospect of more instability in a region already wracked by violence.

The question of the landlocked Horn of Africa nation’s direct access to harbors should “no longer be considered as taboo,” Abiy said in a 45-minute lecture broadcast on state television on Oct. 13.