Ethiopia

Ethiopia Parliament pledges full support for navy

Members of Ethiopia Parliament interacting with navy offices when they paid them a visit.

By Gelle Dheere | Wednesday, January 10, 2024

The Ethiopian parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee has expressed unwavering support for the Ethiopian Navy during its visit to Bahir Dar.

The Ethiopian parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee has expressed unwavering support for the Ethiopian Navy during its visit to Bahir Dar, located in the Amhara region today where the navy's headquarters is situated.

Ethiopian navy officers during a meeting with members of Ethiopian parliament.

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The Ethiopian Navy seems to be gearing up for direct access to the sea, prompted by the controversial Ethiopia-Somaliland deal on January 1. This agreement purportedly grants the landlocked nation sea access and the right to establish a naval base on the Somali coast, a move vehemently opposed by Somalia, igniting a political crisis in the Horn of Africa.

Remarkably, Ethiopia stands out as possibly the only landlocked nation globally maintaining a naval force operating on dry land, hundreds of kilometers away from any sea. Ethiopia lost direct access to the Red Sea in 1993 when Eritrea gained independence, resulting in a significant geopolitical shift.