Ethiopia's intelligence chief Redwan Hussien says Red Sea security cannot be left to a few states alone
The NISS director general told the Tana Forum's Special Envoys' Dialogue in Bahir Dar that Ethiopia depends entirely on the Red Sea for its trade, and called for collective action by regional states and international partners.

Dawan Africa reported that Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel wrote on X that Ethiopia's push for a seat at the table on Red Sea security is an "unhealthy obsession". He accused Ethiopia of fuelling its own internal conflicts and said a camp in Benishangul-Gumuz sponsored by the United Arab Emirates serves as a transit route for mercenaries and a launch point for drone attacks on Sudan. The accusations could not be independently verified. The statement responds to remarks by Ethiopian officials at the 12th Tana Forum in Bahir Dar, where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called sea access existential and intelligence chief Redwan Hussien warned of Red Sea militarisation.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the 12th Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa in Bahir Dar that access to the sea is an existential question for Ethiopia, bound up with its security and sovereign interests, and said Ethiopia would continue to pursue the matter through dialogue and mutual benefit, Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported on Saturday. He named no port and announced no agreement.
Sudan Tribune reported from Bahir Dar that the UN envoy for the Horn of Africa, Guang Cong, told the Tana Forum the region's crises are "increasingly intertwined", linking attacks on shipping to the war in Sudan and to Ethiopia-Eritrea tensions, and called for a comprehensive regional approach. Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nebiyat Getachew told Al Jazeera that Ethiopia is closely following the Bab el-Mandeb and Hormuz crises and that they affect Ethiopia and its neighbours, while the German envoy Heiko Nitzschke and the French envoy Frederic Clavier warned of the economic cost of threats to the two straits.
Redwan Hussien, Director General of Ethiopia's National Intelligence and Security Service, told the Tana Forum's Special Envoys' Dialogue in Bahir Dar that Red Sea security cannot be guaranteed by a handful of states acting alone, and called for collective action by regional states and dependable international partners.
Redwan Hussien, Director General of Ethiopia's National Intelligence and Security Service, said at the opening of the Tana Forum's Special Envoys' Dialogue in Bahir Dar on Friday that the security of the Red Sea cannot be guaranteed by a handful of states acting alone. He cited rising militarisation in the region, rivalry between foreign powers and renewed attacks on commercial shipping near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and said Ethiopia, which depends entirely on the Red Sea for its maritime trade, has a direct stake in protecting it. He called for collective action by regional states and dependable international partners and restated Ethiopia's commitment to regional peace, the Ethiopian News Agency and Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported.
This story is also available in:
ትግርኛ