Paper/ Ethiopia and the Tigray War: Limits and Challenges of EU Policy in a Fragmented and Contested Region by Francesca Caruso and Jesutimilehin O. Akamo

The EU and its member states have traditionally looked at Ethiopia as a strategic partner for regional stability. Yet, this assumption has led the Europeans to neglect Ethiopia’s internal dynamics.

In this JOINT Report, Francesca Caruso (Istituto Affari Internazionali – IAI) and Jesutimilehin O. Akamo (Institute for Peace and Security Studies – IPSS) assess Ethiopia’s fragmentation, which is identity-induced and rooted in the country’s constitution.

The measures implemented by the EU to address the Tigray crisis have largely failed to mitigate the effects of national and regional fragmentation, as well as of multipolar competition. Intra-EU contestation has also played a role: while member states have managed to reconcile some of their initial differences, they have not found enough consensus for a comprehensive strategy that could win them more room to influence conflict resolution efforts.