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ABSTRACT
The Tigray war illustrates how the European Union (EU) often fails to act effectively and consistently in a highly fragmented context. During the 2020-22 conflict, the EU failed to address a number of challenges emanating from the internal fragmentation of Ethiopia. These pertained to the EU’s lack of contextual knowledge about local conflict dynamics and actors and, relatedly, the legacy of its relations with Tigray’s leadership; the inconsistent approach of EU institutions and member states that initially led to an normative outlook, which later evolved into a more balanced and pragmatic one when it was arguably too late; and the inability to mitigate competition with other external powers who backed the Ethiopian federal government. As a result, the EU adopted an inconsistent and ineffective approach toward the conflict.
Acknowledgements
This article is a product of the EU-funded JOINT research project to which Gilang Kembara, Andrew Mantong and Steven Blockmans contributed. JOINT has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N. 959143 (www.jointproject.eu). This publication reflects only the view of the authors, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Notes
1 All interviews were conducted with informed consent.
2 ‘Eurafrique’ is a term coined in the 1920s that has over the decades become associated with the colonial past and the fact that the Euro-African relations have been marked by dependence and inequality.
3 For a lengthier discussion of the three concepts of multipolar competition, regional fragmentation and internal contestation, and the ways in which they affect the governance structures of EUFSP, see the Introduction to this Special Issue (Alcaro and Dijkstra Citation2024).
4 Interview with Ethiopian political scientist, August 2022; interview with a European diplomat based in Ethiopia, November 2022.
5 Interview with Ethiopian political scientist, August 2022. See also Reid (Citation2021); Kene and Feyissa (Citation2020a).
6 Interview with a European diplomat based in Ethiopia, November 2022. See also Kene and Feyissa (Citation2020b).
7 Interview with a peace and security expert, September 2022.
8 Interview with a peace and security expert, September 2022.
9 Interview with a European diplomat based in Ethiopia, November 2022.
10 See ACLED Dashboard on Ethiopia here: https://acleddata.com/dashboard/#/dashboard (accessed 22 December 2023).
11 This support was mainly due to the fact that the TPLF had ruled Ethiopia during the Ethiopia-Eritrea border dispute between 1998-2018. See Mersie et al. (Citation2021).
12 Interview with an EU official, October 2022.
13 Interview with three European officials, December 2022.
14 Interview with a peace and security analyst specialising in Ethiopia, July 2022. See also European Commission (Citation2022).
15 Fox (Citation2021); Interview with an Ethiopian diplomat, August 2022.
16 COAFR (Africa Working Party) (Citation2021). The authors have consulted all the 2020 provisional agendas of the COAFR.
17 The authors have consulted all the 2020 provisional agendas of the Political and Security Committee (PSC). The latter is responsible for the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
18 Interview with an EU official, October 2022; Interview with a European diplomat based in Ethiopia, November 2022. See also Grindneff (Citation2022); Gallardo (Citation2021); ENA (Citation2023); Strangis (Citation2022).
19 Interview 1 with a Horn of Africa Expert, June 2022.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Francesca Caruso
Francesca Caruso is Senior Analyst at the International Relations Office of the Community of Sant’Egidio, Rome, Italy. From 2017 to 2023, she worked as a Researcher in the Africa, Middle East and Mediterranean Programme of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Rome, Italy.
Jesutimilehin O. Akamo
Jesutimilehin O. Akamo is Coordinator, Research and Policy Analysis Unit at the Africa Peace and Security Programme (APSP) of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Email: [email protected]; [email protected]