🔗 Share this article

Increasing concerns are present regarding the potential of military engagement between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Ground

Currently, there are few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, national TV has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Background of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year internal conflict ensued, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a declaration that the conflict was concluded – a move that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.