🔗 Share this article Escalating Verbal Conflict Involving Ethiopian Government and Eritrea Triggers Concerns of Military Confrontation Mounting concerns are present regarding the potential of warfare involving East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has intensified in the past few weeks. Ethiopia and Eritrea were allies in the armed struggle in northern Ethiopia but they have subsequently disagreed. What Did Ethiopia Stated? Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated verbal exchange. The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea dismissed. Relations between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea. Subsequently, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people died. Current Statements from Ethiopian Officials Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the intention to take it by force. Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future". Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force". Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. He has rejected Ethiopian requests for maritime entry labeling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back previous domains. The information ministry warned on recently that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Security Activities on the Ground Currently, there are no reports of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states. Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases. The leader of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries". Previous Background of the Dispute For decades from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers. Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia. Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia. A extended civil war followed, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, resulting in conflict in 1998. Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads. This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a announcement that the hostilities was finished – a move that earned Abiy the international recognition. The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray. But ties have since broken down anew.