🔗 Share this article Intensifying Rhetorical Battle Between Ethiopian Government and Eritrea Raises Fears of Military Confrontation Mounting concerns are present over the potential of warfare involving East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has intensified in recent weeks. Ethiopia and Eritrea were allies in the armed struggle in northern Ethiopia but they have later become estranged. What Did Ethiopia Declared? Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a fierce war of words. The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected. Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access. Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives. Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the wish to take it by force. On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow". The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "by force". Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of retaking lost territory. Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Military Preparations on the Border There have been few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries. Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps. The director of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our opponents". Previous Roots of the Tension For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian rulers. Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia. But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state. A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993. Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998. Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors remained at in dispute. This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a announcement that the war was concluded – a action that earned Abiy the prestigious award. The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region. However relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.