Intensifying War of Words Involving Ethiopian Government and Eritrea Triggers Anxieties of Conflict

Growing apprehensions are present regarding the potential of warfare between East African neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his government's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Ties between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea describing it as "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry warned on recently that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Ground

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has shown completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Roots of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler ended this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to war in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have later worsened once more.