🔗 Share this article

Mounting apprehensions have emerged about the possibility of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a intense war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to brief comments on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a approach of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

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

The leader of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Roots of the Tension

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was administered by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, causing hostilities in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a announcement that the war was over – a action that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

Yet ties have subsequently deteriorated again.