Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki said that the stability of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea depends on the region’s own cooperation and not on external involvement. In a televised interview in Cairo, he called for African nations to take responsibility for their own security and development and warned against both foreign and regional interference.
Speaking during his visit to Egypt for the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, president Isayas Afwerki said that his country’s relations with Egypt are strategic and based on cooperation for stability and growth in the region. He described the Red Sea, the Nile Basin, and the Gulf as parts of one interconnected area that requires collective responsibility.
“No country needs foreign forces to protect its waters or borders. The region’s security must come from its own cooperation, not from outsiders,” President Isaias said.
He said that the Horn of Africa, which includes Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and South Sudan, has long been of geopolitical importance. He explained that instability in one country affects the entire region. Somalia’s insecurity, he said, is not a local matter but a regional and global concern. He added that Ethiopia’s ethnic divisions and South Sudan’s internal conflicts also threaten stability.
President Isaias Afwerki said that repeated foreign interventions have complicated the situation in the Horn. “No one asked for mediators or envoys. They have become part of the problem, not the solution,” he said. He argued that the countries of the region must resolve their issues through local and regional mechanisms rather than rely on outside actors.
He described the Red Sea as an international waterway that serves the whole world but said that its protection is first and foremost the responsibility of the countries that border it. “This international waterway serves the world, but its safety is the duty of the region. We do not need foreign bases to protect our shores,” he said.
President Isaias Afwerki rejected the presence of foreign military bases in the Red Sea region, saying that allowing them invites problems and undermines sovereignty. He called for the creation of mechanisms of cooperation among Red Sea nations including Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia.
On Sudan, President Isaias Afwerki said that the violence in Al-Fashir is only one part of a wider problem. He said that Sudan is being targeted by regional and international powers and that its instability affects the entire Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. “If Sudan is not stable, the Red Sea will not be stable, nor will the Horn of Africa,” he said. He called for collective support for the Sudanese people to overcome the crisis.
President Isaias also spoke about Africa as a whole, saying that the continent continues to suffer from what he called modern forms of slavery. He said that external powers exploit Africa’s resources and keep its markets dependent. “Africa’s wealth is taken, its markets manipulated, and its people denied basic needs by external control. Africa must free itself,” he said. He called for investment in infrastructure, energy, and food systems to achieve economic independence.
Regarding the African Union, President Isaias Afwerki said that it has not met expectations but that the main responsibility lies with the member states. “The African Union did not fail on its own. The governments failed to live up to their responsibilities,” he said. He called for stronger and more accountable institutions that can represent Africa’s collective interests.
President Isaias concluded by saying that African nations must cooperate to build peace and development through self-reliance. He said that regional integration, not external intervention, is the key to lasting stability. “Africa cannot depend on others to solve its problems. It must depend on itself,” he said.
