Escalating Verbal Conflict Involving Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Sparks Concerns of Conflict

Growing apprehensions are present about the possibility of warfare between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his country's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry warned on recently that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has displayed completion events of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle ensued, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened once more.