🔗 Share this article

Growing worries are present about the chance of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile language has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a intense war of words.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry warned on 16 September that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast completion events of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then administered by the UK forces before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

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

A three-decade long civil war followed, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a statement that the war was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.