🔗 Share this article

Increasing concerns are present over the chance of military engagement between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

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

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that efforts to justify "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".

Defense Movements on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the military, the officer, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Conflict

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the ruler terminated this system and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a announcement that the conflict was finished – a move that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

However relations have later worsened once more.