Early relations (c. 100-700 AD), The territories of present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea are closely linked since ancient times. The ancient
Kingdom of Aksum, which existed from the 1st century AD to the early
Middle Ages, encompassed parts of both countries. In the highlands of present-day Eritrea, the Kingdom of
Medri Bahri (
Bahri Negassi) existed from the 15th century onwards. As a Christian vassal state, it enjoyed considerable autonomy from the
Abyssinian Empire for a time. At the same time, the Eritrean coastal regions were subject to foreign powers for a long time from the 16th century onwards: the
Ottoman Empire occupied the port city of
Massawa and controlled the islands and coasts of the
Red Sea with interruptions for over three centuries. In the 19th century, Egyptian troops also extended their influence to Eritrea, but were
defeated by an Ethiopian army on the Mareb River in 1875. Towards the end of the 19th century, Eritrea became the focus of
Italy's colonial ambitions. The Italian shipping company
Rubattino acquired the coastal area around
Assab in 1869, which became the property of the Italian state in 1882. In 1885, Italian troops occupied the port city of Massawa and began the gradual conquest of the Eritrean hinterland from there.
Colonial era Italy's expansion in the
Horn of Africa led to conflict with Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Emperor
Yohannes IV initially resisted, but his successor,
Menelik II, recognized Italian rule over the territories north of the Mereb River in the
Treaty of Wuchale in 1889. When Italian troops attempted to advance from Eritrea into Abyssinia, they were decisively defeated by Menelik's army on March 1, 1896, in the
Battle of Adwa. In the
Treaty of Addis Ababa in 1896, Italy recognized Abyssinia's independence. In October 1935,
fascist Italy launched an invasion of independent Ethiopia from Eritrea and
Italian Somaliland. Ethiopia was defeated in 1936 and incorporated into the newly created
Italian East Africa. However, this union was short-lived: During the
World War II, British troops conquered both Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1941, ending Italian rule over both countries. Eritrea then came under British military administration. After the end of the war, discussions arose about the future of Eritrea, with proposals ranging from integration into the Ethiopian state to complete independence.
Province of Eritrea and independence war in Ethiopia On December 2, 1950, the
UN General Assembly voted to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia. This federation came into effect in 1952, making Eritrea an autonomous province with its own parliament. However, autonomy was gradually eroded: Emperor Haile Selassie abolished important federal provisions in the following years. 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. In 1960, the
Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) began an armed guerrilla war against Ethiopian rule. In the decades that followed, the conflict escalated into a protracted
war of independence. After Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974, the Marxist
Derg regime in Addis Ababa continued the war against Eritrean rebels with great severity. Various liberation movements (from 1970 onwards, primarily the
Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) under
Isaias Afwerki) controlled large parts of the country at times. Finally, in 1991, the Eritrean independence fighters achieved complete military victory. The EPLF captured the capital
Asmara in May 1991, making Eritrea de facto independent. Eritrea's independence was formally recognised when it was admitted into the UN after a
referendum in 1993.
Secession of Eritrea On May 24, 1993, Eritrea was officially established as a sovereign state and recognized internationally. Ethiopia's transitional government under
Meles Zenawi accepted the referendum result and immediately established diplomatic relations with the new state. In the first years after the secession, bilateral relations were friendly. The ruling
Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in Ethiopia and the military government in Eritrea had been former allies in the fight against the Derg dictatorship and signed agreements on economic cooperation. Ethiopia, which now no longer had its own access to the sea, continued to use the Eritrean ports of Assab and Massawa for its foreign trade. In the mid-1990s, however, simmering tensions came to the surface. Disagreements over trade, currency, and the exact border demarcation strained relations. In 1997, Eritrea introduced its
own currency, leading to economic conflicts with Ethiopia. In May 1998, border incidents in the
Badme region escalated into open military conflict between the two states.
Eritrean–Ethiopian War The Eritrean-Ethiopian border war from 1998 to 2000 was one of the bloodiest conflicts in Africa since the
end of the Cold War. Over the course of two years of intense fighting, an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people were killed. The war began with fighting over the disputed border town of Badme and spread along the entire border, with fierce battles over largely worthless and arid land. In December 2000, the
Algiers Agreement, brokered by the
African Union, officially ended the fighting. Both sides committed themselves to recognizing an independent border arbitration commission. To monitor the ceasefire, the United Nations stationed a peacekeeping mission (
UNMEE) in the buffer zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia. In April 2002, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) established a binding border, awarding Badme to Eritrea. However, Ethiopia refused to recognize the decision. As a result, the border remained unresolved and the peace agreement was only partially implemented.
Cold peace between 2000 and 2018 From 2000 to 2018, both countries remained in a state of hostile relations without a formal peace agreement. All diplomatic ties were severed, border crossings closed, and telephone and postal connections interrupted. Disagreements following the war have resulted in stalemate punctuated by periods of elevated tension and renewed threats of war. Eritrea maintained 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. 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. Since the border conflict, Ethiopia no longer uses Eritrean ports for its trade. During the border conflict and since, Ethiopia has fostered militants against Eritrea (including ethnic separatists and religiously based organizations). 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. 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. had prior knowledge of the attack, an accusation denied by US officials.
Peace agreement and
Isaias Afwerki speaking in Eritrea (2019) 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. The next day, they signed a joint declaration formally ending the
Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict. Another peace agreement was signed in
Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia on 16 September later that year. In September 2018, the increased close contacts of senior leadership in the Eritrea–Ethiopia relationship extended to the
Tripartite Agreement that also included
Somalia.
Tigray war and new hostilities However, the rapprochement between Asmara and Addis Ababa was not without setbacks. From 2020 onwards, a new
civil war shook the Ethiopian region of
Tigray, whose ruling clique (the TPLF) had become Eritrea's arch rival. Eritrean troops intervened in the Tigray war on the side of the Ethiopian central government and fought fiercely against the TPLF. The conflict ended in November 2022 with a peace agreement (
Pretoria Agreement) between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF – but without Eritrea's involvement. Eritrea's Afwerki rejected the peace agreement and felt betrayed, which led to new conflicts with Addis Ababa. Eritrea then began arming rebels in
Amhara, which increased tensions with the Ethiopian government. Eritrea had established close links with Amhara region's special police force and the irregular Fano militia since 2019. As part of the preparation for the Tigray war, Eritrea trained 60,000 Amhara forces with the knowledge of Ethiopia's federal government. Abiy Ahmed also repeatedly announced publicly that he would seek direct access to the sea for Ethiopia, which was perceived as a threat in Asmara, bringing both countries to the brink of armed conflict again in 2024/25. In February 2025, Eritrea banned
Ethiopian Airlines flights to Asmara and carried out a
military mobilization. == Societal and cultural relations ==