Rising War of Words Between Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Raises Anxieties of Armed Clash

Increasing apprehensions have emerged regarding the possibility of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have often been tense. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for maritime entry labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on 16 September that attempts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the both nations.

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

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by voters in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their common border, causing war in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the war was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.