🔗 Share this article

Growing apprehensions are present over the potential of military engagement among Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the two countries have often been tense. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a military clash erupted in which numerous people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on social media from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that attempts to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Border

Currently, there are no reports of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, the officer, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict ensued, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a declaration that the conflict was concluded – a move that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have since broken down again.