🔗 Share this article

Increasing worries have emerged about the potential of armed conflict involving East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in 2023 that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to concise remarks on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Ground

There have been little evidence of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war ensued, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a action that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.