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An informed Egyptian source told Ahram Online that Cairo declared a counsellor at the Ethiopian Embassy persona non grata and gave the diplomat 48 hours to depart following Ethiopia’s decision to expel an Egyptian diplomat from Addis Ababa. The source described Ethiopia’s move as unfortunate and unjustified while stressing that Egypt has consistently rejected interference in the internal affairs of other countries including Ethiopia in line with international law and the United Nations Charter. The Egyptian action applied the principle of reciprocity according to the source whose remarks were distributed by the Middle East News Agency.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry notified the Egyptian Embassy that diplomat Ahmed Moharam Ahmed Soliman had been declared persona non grata and must leave within 48 hours Reuters reported. The ministry cited the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations but offered no public explanation for the expulsion. In response Egypt targeted the Ethiopian counsellor identified by Al Arabiya as Agazi Melo Brogoy though names have varied slightly across reports.
The reciprocal expulsions occurred amid longstanding tensions centered on Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam a project inaugurated in 2025 with a generating capacity of 5 150 megawatts according to assessments by The National. Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation data places the country’s per capita renewable water availability at 472 cubic metres annually below the absolute scarcity threshold of 500 cubic metres while more than 98 per cent of its supply originates beyond its borders. Minister Hani Sewilam has warned in recent briefings that uncoordinated dam operations could produce sudden shifts in downstream flows though such effects remain under study.
Ethiopia has accused Egypt Sudan and Eritrea of supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front which launched recent attacks against government forces a claim all three governments have denied according to Reuters dispatches. The diplomatic moves coincided with Ethiopia’s closure of its embassy in Asmara and declaration of 10 Eritrean diplomats as persona non grata prompting Eritrea to sever ties entirely. An Egyptian foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters that reciprocity serves as the standard currency of diplomacy in such exchanges.
Egypt has repeatedly sought a legally binding agreement with Ethiopia and Sudan on the dam’s filling and operation a position it has taken to the United Nations Security Council multiple times The National reported in September 2026. Cairo has also secured recognition of its water security concerns in joint statements with powers such as China during high-level visits. The latest diplomatic rift adds to regional strains in the Horn of Africa without any immediate indication of further escalation from either capital.
