🔗 Share this article

Growing worries exist over the possibility of military engagement between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational language has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and implied the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

Amid continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The head of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing hostilities in 1998.

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a declaration that the conflict was over – a move that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened once more.