Eritrea says the diplomatic break is meant to give Ethiopia war a regional face
Asmara calls it a familiar pretext to divert attention from internal crisis.
The Eritrean government says the Prosperity Party decision to cut diplomatic relations with Asmara is intended to present the war inside Ethiopia as something created by neighbouring states, and so to give it a regional character.
The response was published on Tuesday 6 October in a commentary in the newspaper Haddas Ertra.
The commentary says the leadership in Addis Ababa is using a familiar pretext to divert attention from internal political turmoil and war, and argues that the Prosperity Party has isolated the country from its neighbours and made itself the source of regional instability.
It cites as examples the harm done to the people of Sudan, the attempt to sign an agreement with Somaliland in violation of Somali sovereignty, and years of open campaigning against Eritrea.
It closes by saying the military threats now directed at Eritrea carry no weight, and that the country remains prepared for every eventuality.