Intensifying Verbal Conflict Between Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Raises Concerns of Military Confrontation

Growing worries are present about the possibility of warfare between East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and implied the desire to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that moves to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle followed, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the conflict was over – a action that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

But ties have since broken down again.