🔗 Share this article

Mounting apprehensions have emerged over the potential of military engagement among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

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

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

In the face of persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on 16 September that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Ground

There have been few indications of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has shown training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The leader of staff section of the military, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Tension

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

Following World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the conflict was over – a action that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

But ties have later worsened anew.