🔗 Share this article

Growing apprehensions are present regarding the possibility of military engagement among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on 16 September that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the conflict was finished – a decision that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's previous civil war in the northern region.

But ties have since broken down once more.