🔗 Share this article

Increasing concerns exist regarding the possibility of military engagement between East African neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his government's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Roots of the Conflict

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

Following World War II, it was then administered by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war followed, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

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

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

However relations have since broken down anew.