🔗 Share this article Intensifying Verbal Conflict Involving Ethiopia and Eritrea Triggers Concerns of Conflict Mounting apprehensions are present about the possibility of warfare between Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the last month. The Ethiopian government and Eritrea were allies in the internal conflict in northern Ethiopia but they have since fallen out. What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared? Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense verbal exchange. Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his country's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored. Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it without sea access. Five years later, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed. Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Officials Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and implied the desire to take it by force. Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force". Eritrean Response to the Statements Despite ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel. Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back lost territory. Eritrean authorities warned on recently that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Movements on the Region So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states. However, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps. The head of personnel division of the military, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries". Previous Origins of the Tension For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers. Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia. But in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this agreement and the region 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 plebiscite in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998. Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at loggerheads. This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a move that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition. The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in Tigray. However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.