🔗 Share this article Intensifying Rhetorical Battle Between Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Triggers Fears of Armed Clash Mounting apprehensions have emerged about the possibility of warfare among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks. The Ethiopian government and The Eritrean government worked together in the internal conflict in northern Ethiopia but they have since fallen out. What Did Ethiopia Stated? Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce verbal exchange. The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea ignored. Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked. Subsequently, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people died. Recent Statements from Ethiopian Leadership Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the intention to take it by force. In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow". The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "usingæ¦åŠ›". Eritrea's Answer to the Claims In the face of persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister. The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains. The information ministry cautioned on recently that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Activities on the Ground Currently, there are few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations. Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed completion events of many recruits at various military training camps. The leader of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents". Previous Roots of the Conflict For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers. After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia. Yet in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state. A three-decade long internal conflict followed, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a referendum in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, leading to war in 1998. Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at odds. This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a statement that the war was over – a decision that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize. The neighboring states were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray. However ties have subsequently deteriorated again.