Escalating Rhetorical Battle Between Ethiopia and Eritrea Triggers Concerns of Armed Clash

Mounting apprehensions have emerged regarding the chance of military engagement among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile language has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "rectified tomorrow".

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

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities warned on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Border

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the both nations.

However, in the country, national TV has broadcast completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Past Background of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then administered by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war followed, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

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

Yet relations have later worsened again.