🔗 Share this article Intensifying War of Words Between Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Triggers Fears of Conflict Increasing worries are present over the chance of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks. Ethiopia and The Eritrean government worked together in the civil war in northern Ethiopia but they have subsequently disagreed. What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated? Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense war of words. PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities ignored. Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access. In 1998, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed. Current Statements from Ethiopian Government Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the wish to take it by force. On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future". The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "using武力". Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements Amid continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory. The information ministry alerted on recently that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Security Activities on the Ground Currently, there are few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the both nations. Nonetheless, in the country, government media has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at different defense facilities. The leader of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries". Past Roots of the Dispute For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers. After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire. But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia. A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998. Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at odds. This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the conflict was finished – a action that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize. The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in Tigray. However ties have later worsened again.