The African Union Commission has sought to ease a diplomatic dispute with Egypt, saying its warning about rising tensions in the Horn of Africa was not intended to blame Cairo or interfere in the internal affairs of any member state.
In a clarification issued Sunday, the Commission said it had taken note of Egypt’s objections to an AU statement released on Oct. 1.
That statement urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to exercise “maximum restraint,” keep communication channels open and resolve their differences through diplomacy.
The AU said its appeal followed the expulsion of diplomats involving the three countries and was intended solely to prevent further escalation.
It reaffirmed its commitment to state sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference, while stressing that political solutions—not military action—should prevail.
The Commission also emphasized Egypt’s importance to the bloc, describing it as a founding AU member and a key partner in efforts to advance peace, security, integration and development across Africa.
The clarification came amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Ethiopia and its neighbours.
According to Reuters, Ethiopia ordered the closure of its embassy in Eritrea and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata, prompting Asmara to sever diplomatic ties with Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia also expelled an Egyptian diplomat and gave him 48 hours to leave. Egypt responded by ordering an Ethiopian embassy counsellor out of Cairo within the same period.
The dispute has unfolded alongside renewed violence and political tensions in northern Ethiopia.
Ethiopian authorities have accused Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan of supporting an opposition alliance led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front—allegations the three countries deny, according to The National and Ahram Online.
The crisis also has a longer-running strategic backdrop: Egypt and Ethiopia remain locked in a dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Addis Ababa built on the Blue Nile.
Egypt fears the project and possible future dams could threaten its heavily Nile-dependent water supply, while Ethiopia maintains that development of the river is a sovereign right.
Egyptian officials have rejected claims that Cairo is involved in Ethiopia’s internal conflict.
An Egyptian source described the AU’s initial statement as an attempt to draw Egypt into an Ethiopian domestic matter, while Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Ethiopia was seeking to divert attention from its own internal problems, Ahram Online reported.
The AU’s latest statement does not resolve the underlying disagreements, but it appears aimed at keeping diplomatic channels open—and preventing a series of expulsions and accusations from developing into a broader regional confrontation.