🔗 Share this article Rising Rhetorical Battle Among Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Raises Fears of Armed Clash Increasing worries are present about the possibility of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks. Ethiopia and The Eritrean government worked together in the internal conflict in northern Ethiopia but they have since fallen out. What Has Ethiopia Stated? Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a intense war of words. PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in 2023 that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea dismissed. Ties between the two countries have often been tense. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access. In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people died. Recent Statements from Ethiopian Officials Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means. Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected soon". The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "through military action". Eritrea's Answer to the Statements In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back former lands. Government spokespeople cautioned on 16 September that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Movements on the Region So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the both nations. Nonetheless, in the country, state television has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases. The head of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies". Past Background of the Dispute For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers. After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia. But in 1962 the ruler ended this agreement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state. A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998. Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at odds. This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a statement that the war was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize. The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in Tigray. However diplomatic connections have since broken down anew.