Ethiopian diplomats have stoked a growing diplomatic feud with the European Union after the bloc’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, and his envoy, Finland’s Pekka Haavisto, harshly criticised the government’s handling of the conflict in the northern Tigray province.

Following last week’s meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers, Finland’s Haavisto warned on Tuesday (23 February) that the crisis in Tigray appeared to be “out of control”, adding that the Ethiopian government was “in denial” about the scale of the problem.

Haavisto had been dispatched to Ethiopia as an envoy on behalf of Borrell, the EU’s High Representative on Foreign Affairs.