🔗 Share this article

Increasing concerns are present regarding the potential of warfare involving East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which numerous people were killed.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Despite ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

The information ministry warned on mid-September that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

There have been no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in the country, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Conflict

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

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war followed, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the conflict was over – a action that won Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then allies in the country's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

But relations have later worsened again.