🔗 Share this article Escalating Verbal Conflict Between Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Sparks Anxieties of Armed Clash Mounting concerns have emerged about the potential of warfare among Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks. The Ethiopian government and The Eritrean government worked together in the civil war in northern Ethiopia but they have subsequently disagreed. What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared? Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a fierce verbal exchange. The Ethiopian leader previously announced in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected. Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea. In 1998, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died. Recent Comments from Ethiopian Officials Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the intention to seize it militarily. Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected tomorrow". The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "by force". Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on X from Communications Head Yemane G.. Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory. Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that efforts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Activities on the Border So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states. Nevertheless, in the country, state television has broadcast graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases. The head of human resources department of the military, the officer, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries". Previous Background of the Tension For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers. Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia. Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state. A thirty-year internal conflict followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998. Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads. This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a action that earned Abiy the international recognition. The neighboring states were then partners in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region. However relations have since broken down again.