🔗 Share this article

Growing worries exist about the potential of warfare between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

In the face of persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople alerted on recently that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Ground

Currently, there are little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Background of the Tension

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, leading to war in 1998.

Though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a announcement that the conflict was over – a decision that won Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

But ties have later worsened again.