🔗 Share this article

Increasing worries exist over the potential of military engagement between East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

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

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The leader of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Conflict

For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the ruler terminated this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders signed a declaration that the war was concluded – a action that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

Yet ties have since broken down once more.