Intensifying Verbal Conflict Between Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Triggers Anxieties of Conflict

Growing apprehensions are present about the possibility of military engagement among East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his government's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

Currently, there are few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The leader of human resources department of the armed forces, General Hachalu, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Background of the Tension

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

Following World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the war was concluded – a decision that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

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

However ties have since broken down anew.