🔗 Share this article Rising Verbal Conflict Involving Ethiopian Government and Eritrea Sparks Concerns of Military Confrontation Increasing apprehensions exist over the potential of military engagement among East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has intensified in the past few weeks. Ethiopia and Eritrea worked together in the internal conflict in Tigray but they have subsequently disagreed. What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared? Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce rhetorical conflict. The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his government's sea access was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed. Diplomatic connections between the two countries have often been tense. After a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access. Five years later, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died. Current Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the intention to take it by force. On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future". The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "through military action". Eritrea's Response to the Statements Despite persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G.. He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking lost territory. Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that moves to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Military Activities on the Ground Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries. Nevertheless, in the country, government media has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases. The leader of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our enemies". Historical Origins of the Dispute For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers. After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia. Yet in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia. A extended armed struggle followed, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993. Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998. Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at loggerheads. This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the war was finished – a move that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize. The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in Tigray. Yet relations have since broken down again.