🔗 Share this article

Mounting apprehensions have emerged over the chance of military engagement involving East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

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

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have often been tense. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

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

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

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

Military Activities on the Region

So far, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

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

The director of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor terminated this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded 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 overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a move that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

But ties have later worsened anew.