Escalating War of Words Among Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Triggers Fears of Military Confrontation

Mounting concerns are present about the potential of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the intention to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing entry 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 Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Border

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast training completions of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The head of staff section of the armed forces, the officer, recently said in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a declaration that the conflict was concluded – a action that won Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.