🔗 Share this article

Growing concerns exist over the possibility of warfare between East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the military, the officer, commented lately in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict followed, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a action that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

But ties have since broken down anew.