🔗 Share this article

Mounting apprehensions exist regarding the chance of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which numerous people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on social media from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities warned on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

There have been few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

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

The leader of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors continued at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a statement that the war was over – a decision that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

However ties have since broken down again.