Ethiopia and Eritrea ended all diplomatic relations on October 1 in a single day. Here is how eight years of fragile peace collapsed.

In 2018, the two countries restored relations after two decades of hostility, a deal that won Ethiopia’s prime minister a Nobel Peace Prize. During Ethiopia’s 2020-2022 civil war, Eritrea fought alongside the federal government against Tigrayan forces. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in that war.

The relationship then cooled. Eritrea published a chronology tracing Ethiopian demands for sea access and what it called territorial revisionism, starting from Abiy Ahmed’s October 2023 maritime statements. In 2026, fighting resumed in northern Ethiopia between federal troops and a TPLF-led opposition alliance, the biggest escalation since the war ended.

Addis Ababa accused Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of backing the rebels. All three deny it. Overnight, blasts rattled the capital, and hours later Ethiopia closed its Asmara embassy and expelled ten Eritrean diplomats, giving them 48 hours to leave.

Eritrea’s response took only hours. Its foreign ministry said the expulsion of all its diplomats, including those accredited to the African Union, left it “no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties.”