🔗 Share this article Escalating War of Words Among Ethiopian Government and Eritrea Raises Fears of Military Confrontation Increasing apprehensions have emerged over the possibility of military engagement involving East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has escalated in the last month. Ethiopia and Eritrea were allies in the armed struggle in Tigray but they have later become estranged. What Did Ethiopia Said? Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense war of words. PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his government's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea dismissed. Relations between the two countries have often been tense. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it cut off from the sea. Five years later, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people died. Current Statements from Ethiopia's Officials Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the wish to capture it through military means. On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力". Eritrean Answer to the Threats Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking lost territory. Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Military Movements on the Region There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the both nations. However, in the country, state television has broadcast graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases. The head of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies". Historical Origins of the Dispute For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian rulers. After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia. But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia. A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, ending with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then approved by the population in a referendum in 1993. Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998. Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at in dispute. This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the conflict was over – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition. The two governments were then partners in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region. However relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.