Ethiopia has declared Egyptian diplomatic staff member Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Soliman persona non grata, adding a new dimension to the rapidly deteriorating diplomatic environment surrounding the country. The decision comes on the same day Ethiopia declared ten Eritrean diplomats persona non grata and announced the closure of its embassy in Asmara. Addis Ababa said the Eritrean diplomats had engaged in activities that posed a threat to Ethiopia’s national security and ordered them to leave the country within 48 hours.

The Egyptian diplomatic measure is particularly significant given the increasingly strained relations between Addis Ababa and Cairo. Ethiopia and Egypt have remained at odds over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the broader question of Nile water management, while their relations have increasingly intersected with the security dynamics of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.

The latest developments follow accusations by Ethiopian military leadership that Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan have supported forces involved in the renewed conflict in northern Ethiopia. Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, Chief of General Staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force, made the allegations in late September 2026, placing the three countries within the context of Ethiopia’s current security concerns.

With that note, the expulsion of an Egyptian diplomatic staff member, alongside the much broader action against Eritrean diplomats, represents a notable shift from diplomatic disagreement toward concrete measures against foreign diplomatic personnel. The Eritrean case has already developed into a wider diplomatic rupture. Following Ethiopia’s decision to close its embassy in Asmara and expel the ten Eritrean diplomats, Eritrea announced that it would sever diplomatic relations with Ethiopia.

The Egyptian case is more limited in scope, as the measure concerns an individual diplomatic staff member rather than Egypt’s ambassador or the diplomatic mission as a whole. Nevertheless, its timing is significant, particularly as Addis Ababa confronts renewed conflict in the north and increasingly states the crisis as having a regional dimension.

The developments of today therefore mark an important moment in Ethiopia’s relations with two of its most consequential regional adversaries. The simultaneous diplomatic actions against Eritrean and Egyptian personnel underscore the extent to which Ethiopia’s domestic security crisis is becoming intertwined with the wider geopolitical competition in the Horn of Africa. The immediate responses from Cairo and Asmara will be closely watched as the diplomatic consequences of the latest measures unfold.

By Horn Review Editorial