Eritrea–Ethiopia relations

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Eritrea–Ethiopia relations

Eritrea	Ethiopia

Part of a series on the
History of Eritrea
Pre-colonial Prehistory Kingdom of Punt (c. 2500–980 BC) Kingdom of Dəmot (c. 980–400 BC) Aksumite Empire (c. 80 BC–AD 960) Sultanate of Dahlak (Late 11th century–1557) Kingdom of Medri Bahri (c. 1137–1889) Ethiopian Empire (1270–1974)
Colonial Eyalet-i Habeş (1554–1872) Italian Eritrea (1882–1936) Eritrea Governorate of Italian East Africa (1936–1941) East African Campaign of World War II (1940–1941) British Military Administration (1941–1952)
Post-Colonial Autonomy within Ethiopia (1952–1962) Eritrean War of Independence (1961–1991) Annexation as the Eritrea Province (1962–1993) Ethiopian Civil War (1974–1991)
State of Eritrea 1990s in Eritrea Eritrean–Ethiopian War (1998–2000) 2000s in Eritrea 2010s in Eritrea
Eritrea portal
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Part of a series on the
History of Ethiopia
Early history Prehistory   Dʿmt 980 – 400 BC
Middle Ages Aksum 100 – 940 AD Zagwe dynasty 900–1270 Early Solomonic period 1270–1529
Early modern history Ethiopian–Adal War 1527–1543 Oromo migrations 1543 – 17th century Habesh Eyalet 1557 – 17th century Early Gondar period 1632–1769 Aussa Sultanate 1734–1974 Zemene Mesafint 1769–1855
Modern history Unification 1855–1913 First Italo–Ethiopian War 1895–1896 Pre-Italian Modernization 1913–1936 Second Italo–Ethiopian War 1935–1936 Italian East Africa 1936–1941 East African Campaign 1941 Italian guerrilla war 1941–1943 Post-Italian Modernization 1941–1974 Federation with Eritrea 1952–1962 Eritrean Independence 1961–1991 Ethiopian Civil War 1974–1991
Recent history Ethiopian general election 2005 Ogaden conflict 2007–2008 War in Somalia 2006–2009 The Qerro Revolution 2014–2018 Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present) (Tigray conflict) (Gedeo–Guji clashes)(Oromo–Somali clashes) (Afar–Somali clashes) (Benishangul-Gumuz conflict) 2018–present
Topics Emperor Aristocracy Military Army of the Empire Currency Aksumite Famines
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Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia are historically adversarial.^[1] Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after the Eritrean War of Independence, after which relations were cordial. Since independence Eritrea's relationship with Ethiopia was entirely political, especially in the resuscitation and expansion of IGAD's scope. However, the 1998 Eritrean–Ethiopian War marked a turning point, and their relationship became increasingly hostile. Upon the selection of Abiy Ahmed as Ethiopian Prime Minister, a peace agreement was forged, and ties between the neighbouring countries were re-established on 9 July 2018.^[2] The alliance between the two countries has been strengthened since then, with Eritrean troops reportedly assisting the Ethiopian Army in the Tigray Conflict in 2020.^[3]

Country comparison[]

	Eritrea	Ethiopia
Coat of Arms
Flag
Population	6081196 (2020 estimate)	117876227 (2021 estimate)
Area	117600 km2 (45400 sq mi)	1104300 km2 (426400 sq mi)
Population Density	51.7/km2 (20/sq mi)	106.7/km2 (41.2/sq mi)
Capital	Asmara (pop. 963000)	Addis Ababa (pop. 3384569)
Government	Unitary one-party presidential republic	Ethnofederalist (federal) parliamentary constitutional republic
Official language	Tigrinya (de facto), Tigre, Saho, Afar, Bilen, Beja, Kunama, Nara, Arabic	Amharic (de facto), Oromo, Tigrinya, Somali, Afar
Main religions	50-63% Christianity, 36-48% Islam, 1-2% other religions (2011)	43.8% Ethiopian Orthodox, 31.3% Islam, 22.8% P'ent'ay, 0.7% Catholic, 0.6% traditional faiths, 0.8% other religions (2010)
Ethnic groups	55% Tigrinya, 30% Tigre, 4% Saho, 2% Kunama, 2% Rashaida, 2% Bilen, 5% other (Afar, Beja, Nara) (2010 estimate)	34.6% Oromo, 27.1% Amhara, 6.2% Somali, 6.1% Tigrinya(Tigrayan), 4.0% Sidama, 2.5% Gurage, 19.5% other (2007 census)

Diplomatic-political relations[]

History[]

While Ethiopia remained independent during the colonial conquests of Africa, Italy created a colony called Eritrea around Asmara in the 19th century. After World War II and Italy's defeat, Britain occupied Eritrea. Eritrea was then federated with Ethiopia in 1952 by the ratification of UN General Assembly Resolution 390, which ignored the independence desires of the Eritrean people.

In the late 1950s, Eritreans began organising an armed rebellion from their base in Cairo. In 1962, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie unilaterally dissolved the federation and annexed Eritrea, triggering a war that would last three decades.

Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia through their war of independence (1961-1991). Eritrea's independence was formally recognised when it was admitted into the UN after a referendum in 1993.

In December 2000, Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace treaty ending their war and created a pair of binding judicial commissions, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission and the Eritrean-Ethiopian Claims Commission, to rule on their disputed border and related claims. In April 2002 The Commission released its decision (with a clarification in 2003).^[4] Disagreements following the war have resulted in stalemate punctuated by periods of elevated tension and renewed threats of war.^[5][6] Since these decisions Ethiopia has refused to permit the physical demarcation of the border while Eritrea insists the border must be demarcated as defined by the commission. Consequently, the Boundary Commission ruled boundary as virtually demarcated and effective.

Eritrea maintains a military force on its border with Ethiopia roughly equal in size to Ethiopia's force, which has required a general mobilization of a significant portion of the population.^[7] Eritrea has viewed this border dispute as an existential threat to itself in particular and the African Union in general, because it deals with the supremacy of colonial boundaries in Africa.^[8] Since the border conflict Ethiopia no longer uses Eritrean ports for its trade.^[9]

During the border conflict and since, Ethiopia has fostered militants against Eritrea (including ethnic separatists and religiously based organizations).^[10] Eritrea has retaliated by hosting militant groups against Ethiopia as well. The United Nations Security Council argues that Eritrea and Ethiopia have expanded their dispute to a second theater, Somalia.^[11]

In March 2012, Ethiopia attacked Eritrean army outposts along the border. Addis Ababa said the assault was in retaliation for the training and support given by Asmara to subversives while Eritrea said the U.S knew of the attacks, an accusation denied by US officials.^[12]

Abiy Ahmed premiership[]

At a summit on 8 July 2018 in Asmara, Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged to restore diplomatic relations and open their borders to each other.^[13] The next day, they signed a joint declaration formally ending the Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict.^[14][15] Another peace agreement was signed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 16 September later that year.^[16]

In September 2018, the increased close contacts of senior leadership in the Eritrea–Ethiopia relationship extended to the Tripartite Agreement that also included Somalia.^[17] Martin Plaut suggested that during a January 2020 trilateral meeting and bilateral Eritrea–Ethiopia visits in 2020, the leaders of the three countries discussed plans for the Tigray War prior to its official start with the 4 November 2020 Northern Command attacks.^[18]

Resident diplomatic missions[]

• Eritrea has an embassy in Addis Ababa.
• Ethiopia has an embassy in Asmara.

Societal and cultural relations[]

Ethiopian-Eritreans Community Organizations and the Habesha Community[]

Throughout the Ethiopian-Eritrean Diaspora, there have been many multi-ethnic and bi-national origin community organizations founded by and for Eritreans and Ethiopians to foster good relationships, promote and express cultural commonalities well before diplomatic ties between the two countries's governments were ever restored. A majority of these organizations are found on college/university campuses throughout the United States, Canada, and other parts of the Ethiopian-Eritrean Diaspora.^{[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]}

References[]