🔗 Share this article Intensifying Rhetorical Battle Among Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Raises Concerns of Conflict Mounting concerns are present over the potential of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks. The Ethiopian government and The Eritrean government worked together in the armed struggle in Tigray but they have since fallen out. What Did Ethiopia Stated? Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a heated verbal exchange. The Ethiopian leader previously announced in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea rejected. Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked. Subsequently, a territorial conflict broke out in which more than 100,000 people died. Recent Comments from Ethiopian Leadership Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the wish to take it by force. On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed in the future". The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "by force". Eritrean Response to the Statements Amid continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister the minister. He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking lost territory. The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Preparations on the Ground Currently, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states. However, in the country, national TV has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases. The director of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries". Previous Origins of the Dispute For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian rulers. Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia. Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state. A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993. Briefly 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, resulting in war in 1998. Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at in dispute. This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the international recognition. The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region. But diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.