🔗 Share this article Rising Rhetorical Battle Among Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Sparks Concerns of Conflict Growing apprehensions are present regarding the chance of military engagement among East African countries, the Ethiopian government 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 Has Ethiopia Said? Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce verbal exchange. PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected. Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access. In 1998, a border war broke out in which numerous people lost their lives. Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Officials Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means. In early September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified soon". The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "using武力". Eritrean Answer to the Claims Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains. Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Activities on the Region There have been no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the neighboring states. However, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities. The leader of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies". Past Origins of the Conflict For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers. Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia. But in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia. A thirty-year armed struggle followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993. Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing hostilities in 1998. Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at loggerheads. This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize. The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in Tigray. However diplomatic connections have since broken down again.