🔗 Share this article Escalating Verbal Conflict Between Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Raises Fears of Conflict Mounting worries are present regarding the potential of military engagement involving East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the last month. Ethiopia and The Eritrean government were allies in the internal conflict in northern Ethiopia but they have subsequently disagreed. What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated? Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict. The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed. Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access. Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died. Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means. On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "using武力". Eritrean Response to the Statements Amid persistent threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel. The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back former lands. Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Security Preparations on the Border There have been few indications of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations. However, in Ethiopia, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities. The director of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries". Past Roots of the Dispute For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers. After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia. But in 1962 the ruler terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state. A thirty-year armed struggle followed, ending with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993. Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, causing war in 1998. Though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at odds. This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a announcement that the conflict was over – a move that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize. The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in Tigray. However relations have later worsened anew.