Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki has launched a scathing denunciation of the United Arab Emirates, branding it an existential threat to Somali sovereignty and a potential vanguard for Israeli strategic domination across the Red Sea corridor.
Speaking on part 2 of the interview published on Shabait, Afwerki alleges that what the UAE claims as development, shelling billions into ports like Berbera in Somaliland, is part of a broader project: constructing a “String of Pearls” empire stretching from the Suez Canal to Mogadishu, Dar es Salaam, and beyond
He questions the legitimacy of such interventions. “Are these ports in no-man’s land? Are there no governments, no people investing, building infrastructure?”
He frames the UAE as not acting alone, but executing a covert plan on behalf of external forces, with purported links to Israeli geopolitical agendas. The goal, he warns, is to establish military and logistical dominance over the Horn’s most strategic maritime chokepoints
Somalia as a Strategic Bait?
Afwerki has further criticised the manipulation of the Somaliland question, calling it a manufactured pretext used to sever Somalia and secure geopolitical leverage.
“Why are they singling out and propagating the Somaliland issue? What is the purpose of the interventions in Somalia?” He posed! He contextualises this within a broader conspiracy: creating an unstable environment to enable Israeli-friendly deployments and alliances in the region.
Port Strategy, Proxy Ambitions
Afwerki further argues that UAE’s port deals in Somaliland, Djibouti, Sudan, and Yemen aren’t economic initiatives—they are pieces of a calculated geopolitical network. He references Djibouti canceling UAE contracts, Eritrea leasing and then vacating ports like Assab, and the rapid military base expansions in strategic Red Sea islands
These moves, Afwerki claims, were not independent. The UAE, he insists, is executing a broader grand strategy aimed at establishing semi-permanent control of trade routes with Israeli complicity, potentially undermining Horn of Africa sovereignty.
Armed Escalation and Covert Logistics
Afwerki’s claims intensify when addressing alleged military dimensions: weapons deliveries into Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar, Debre Zeyit) linked to UAE logistics hubs; drones being flown covertly; clandestine arms loads arriving in the region to arm proxy forces. He warns these actions are destabilizing the region and masquerading as reconciliation efforts:
“There are many interventions, supposedly for reconciliation, which only exacerbate the problem; who are being reconciled? What is the reconciliation for?”
Somalia’s reaction has been swift. It is forming a “containment coalition”, strengthening ties with Egypt and Eritrea to counterbalance Ethiopian-UAE-Somaliland alignment
The fallout from these dynamics has added fuel to Somalia’s decision to consider expelling Ethiopian troops involved in counterterrorism operations, further complicating regional security calculus
Afwerki frames the UAE’s ambition as part of a broader agenda that threatens sovereignty across the Horn of Africa; a program he says is driven by foreign backers using the UAE as an operational proxy. For the Eritrean president, resisting these manoeuvres is not optional but existential.