🔗 Share this article

Increasing concerns exist regarding the potential of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in 2023 that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. 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, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

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

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Despite persistent threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

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

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has shown completion events of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the hostilities was over – a move that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet ties have later worsened again.