Ethiopia: Ambassador Dina Mufti Accuses Isaias Afwerki of Promoting ‘Cushitic-Semitic Antagonism’, Interfering in Ethiopia’s Internal Affairs

Addis Abeba — Ambassador Dina Mufti, Member of Parliament and former spokesperson of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has accused Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki of promoting what he called a “very dangerous” narrative of “Cushitic-Semitic antagonism” as part of what he described as a broader attempt to destabilize Ethiopia and realign political forces in the Horn of Africa.

In a commentary published on the state-affiliated Horn Review, reflecting on President Isaias’s recent speech during Eritrea’s 34th independence anniversary, Dina alleged that the Eritrean leader “seems to have come up with this thesis” as a foundation for the “realignment of forces in the Horn.”

He claimed that the aim is to bring together “ethnic militias from the Tigray and Amhara region, under a coalition that he leads,” in an effort to overturn Ethiopia’s federal government, which Isaias, according to Dina, claims is “subservient to external forces.”

During his keynote address delivered in Asmara on 24 May, President Isaias referred to Ethiopia as a country caught in what he described as a “spiral of crises and devastation” lasting “for eighty years – no less than three generations.” He attributed this to policies “enunciated by Washington’s Fosters” during the Cold War, along with “grave mistakes” made by Soviet leaders. According to him, Ethiopia missed its nation-building moment and instead “gravitated towards ethnic polarization,” which he said led to “upheavals and devastation.”

President Isaias further claimed that external actors, whom he accused of being “perturbed by the promising prospects” of reform in Ethiopia seven years ago, have waged “wars against the Ethiopian people under the rubric of Prosperity.” Among the issues he listed as being weaponized to justify this effort were “the Issue of Water,” “Nile and the Red Sea,” “Access to the Sea,” and what he described as the “Ideology of Orommuma that does not represent the Oromo people.”

Ambassador Dina responded by describing Isaias’s framing of a Cushitic-Semitic divide as a “very dangerous provocation,” warning that such narratives risk deepening ethnic tensions. He further accused Isaias of attempting to “fuel animosity against the Oromo community” by invoking Oromummaa, a concept Dina argued the Eritrean president “hardly understands.”

He added that Isaias has a “long-standing habit of inciting one ethnic group against another” and using “the ethnic card” to undermine Ethiopian governments that, in his words, “were unwilling to accept his dictates.”

In addition to rhetorical interference, Dina alleged that Eritrean troops are “currently found both in Sudan and Ethiopian territory,” and accused Isaias of offering “active material support to all sorts of subservient and armed groups” operating against the Ethiopian state. “His continued violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and unity of the Ethiopian state cannot be tolerated indefinitely,” he wrote.

Dina also criticized the content of President Isaias’s speech, stating that it provided “no overview of what Eritrea has achieved since independence.” He said the president made “no mention” of socio-economic progress, major infrastructure, or development programs, and argued that Isaias is “utterly disinterested” in such matters. “Less than one fifth of the speech is about Eritrea,” he wrote.

Instead, he said, the speech was dominated by “long-winded lectures on geopolitics,” including commentary on the Trump presidency, MAGA, and the rivalry between China and the United States. Dina noted that the president’s remarks included “a cavalier dismissal of African agency and relevance” before shifting focus to “the crises in Sudan and Ethiopia.”