🔗 Share this article Escalating Verbal Conflict Among Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Raises Anxieties of Conflict Increasing apprehensions are present regarding the potential of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has intensified in the last month. The Ethiopian government and Eritrea were allies in the armed struggle in Tigray but they have subsequently disagreed. What Did Ethiopia Stated? Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated war of words. PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected. Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked. Subsequently, a border war erupted in which numerous people were killed. Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Officials Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means. On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "by force". Eritrean Answer to the Claims In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking previous domains. Government spokespeople cautioned on 16 September that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Security Movements on the Border There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the both nations. However, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases. The leader of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies". Past Background of the Dispute For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers. After World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire. Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state. A extended armed struggle followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998. Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute. This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a announcement that the war was finished – a decision that earned Abiy the prestigious award. The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in the northern region. Yet ties have later worsened again.