Addis Ababa, October 15, 2026 (FMC) — Egyptian political analyst Magdi Khalil has strongly rebuked Egypt’s leaders for opposing and seeking to obstruct Ethiopia’s sovereign right to access the Red Sea.
“If there were leaders in Egypt with vision and foresight, they would work to help Ethiopia gain access to the Red Sea instead of opposing and fighting it,” he said.
Khalil denounced Egypt’s opposition to Ethiopia’s efforts to secure Red Sea access, urging Cairo to reconsider its policy toward Ethiopia and replace confrontation with cooperation.
Khalil asserted that Ethiopia, as a large landlocked country, has the sovereign right to secure access to the Red Sea.
“Ethiopia has the sovereign right to conclude agreements with countries to secure one or more outlets on the Red Sea, provided this is done peacefully, whether for fifty or one hundred years,” he added.
The analyst challenged the rationale for opposing Ethiopia’s access to the Red Sea, pointing out that Ethiopia’s historical presence along the coast had not harmed neighboring countries.
He maintained that Ethiopia’s demands should be addressed through cooperation and mutual interests rather than political confrontation and hostility.
Khalil called for a meeting of Red Sea littoral states to deliberate on shared interests and reach regional understandings.
He underscored the need to replace hostile competition with cooperation, arguing that peaceful agreements could offer a practical framework for addressing Ethiopia’s maritime needs.
According to Khalil, some countries were willing to reach agreements with Ethiopia to provide maritime access. He argued that long-term arrangements could foster stronger cooperation and stability across the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region.
Khalil also criticized Egypt’s historical stance on the Eritrean issue, noting that Egypt, alongside other Arab countries, supported the Eritrean Liberation Front, which was established in Cairo in 1960.
He argued that Eritrea’s independence in 1991, which left Ethiopia landlocked, calls for a reassessment of the regional positions that contributed to this outcome, as reported by local news agency ENA.
The analyst characterized Egypt’s support for the Eritrean movement as a historical mistake that damaged relations that should have been founded on cooperation between the two countries.