🔗 Share this article Rising Rhetorical Battle Involving Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Triggers Anxieties of Armed Clash Mounting worries have emerged over the possibility of warfare between East African neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has escalated in the last month. Ethiopia and Eritrea cooperated in the internal conflict in northern Ethiopia but they have since fallen out. What Has Ethiopian Officials Said? Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict. Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in 2023 that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea dismissed. Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it landlocked. In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed. Recent Statements from Ethiopian Officials Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily. On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "using武力". Eritrean Answer to the Claims In the face of persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G.. He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory. Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Security Preparations on the Border So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the two countries. Nevertheless, in the country, state television has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities. The head of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our adversaries". Past Background of the Tension For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by colonial powers. Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia. Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia. A three-decade long armed struggle followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993. Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998. Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors continued at in dispute. This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a announcement that the war was finished – a move that earned Abiy the prestigious award. The neighboring states were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray. Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.