🔗 Share this article

Increasing apprehensions exist over the chance of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a heated verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

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

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the intention to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Statements

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that attempts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Border

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the armed forces, General Hachalu, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a statement that the war was finished – a move that earned Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

However relations have later worsened anew.