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

Growing worries exist about the potential of military engagement among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a intense verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that moves to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense 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 shown completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The leader of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Previous Background of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the conflict was over – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet ties have subsequently deteriorated once more.