🔗 Share this article

Growing worries exist over the possibility of military engagement between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains.

The information ministry warned on mid-September that moves to validate "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has shown training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British administration before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this agreement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries remained at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a statement that the war was concluded – a action that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

But relations have later worsened once more.