🔗 Share this article Escalating Rhetorical Battle Involving Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Raises Concerns of Military Confrontation Growing apprehensions have emerged about the potential of warfare among Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in the last month. Ethiopia and The Eritrean government worked together 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 Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict. The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected. Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea. Five years later, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives. Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and suggested the desire to take it by force. In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future". The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action". Eritrean Answer to the Threats In the face of ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G.. Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back lost territory. Eritrean authorities warned on recently that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Military Movements on the Ground There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states. Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps. The head of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries". Previous Origins of the Dispute For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers. Following World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia. Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state. A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by voters in a vote in 1993. Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998. Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at odds. This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the war was concluded – a move that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award. The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region. Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.