🔗 Share this article

Mounting concerns have emerged about the possibility of armed conflict between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational language has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war started in which numerous people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the wish to capture it through military means.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "addressed in the future".

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

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

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

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has broadcast training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

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

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict ensued, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations remained at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the war was over – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

However ties have subsequently deteriorated again.