Relationship dossier
Eritrea
United Arab Emirates
Relationship assessment
Security cooperation at Assab and UAE support for Eritrea’s regional diplomacy
Eritrea toward United Arab Emirates
+50Eritrea granted the UAE access to facilities at Assab, which the UAE used to support military operations in Yemen. This provided concrete security cooperation with the UAE.
United Arab Emirates toward Eritrea
+50The UAE supported Eritrea’s diplomatic rapprochement with Ethiopia in 2018, participating in regional efforts that culminated in a peace agreement. The UAE also maintained a military presence at Assab through Eritrean-provided access.
Overall relationship
+45The relationship has featured strategic security cooperation, particularly the UAE’s use of Assab during the Yemen conflict, alongside UAE support for Eritrea’s regional diplomacy in 2018. These concrete ties indicate substantial cooperation, although the longer-term breadth and continuity of the partnership are unclear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Eritrea and the United Arab Emirates have cooperated on security and regional diplomacy. Eritrea gave the UAE access to facilities at Assab for its military operations in Yemen, while the UAE supported Eritrea’s diplomatic rapprochement with Ethiopia in 2018. These are substantial areas of cooperation, though the scope and durability of the broader relationship are less clear.
Key developments
Eritrea provided the UAE access to facilities at Assab for support of its military operations in Yemen.
The UAE supported regional efforts accompanying the Eritrea–Ethiopia peace agreement signed in Jeddah.
Major uncertainties
- The terms and duration of the UAE’s access to facilities at Assab are unclear.
- The extent of UAE economic and security assistance to Eritrea is unclear.
- The scale of bilateral cooperation following the 2018 regional diplomatic efforts is uncertain.