Rising Rhetorical Battle Involving Ethiopian Government and Eritrea Sparks Anxieties of Armed Clash

Mounting worries exist regarding the potential of warfare among East African neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on 16 September that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, state television has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The leader of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 the ruler ended this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war occurred, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders signed a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a move that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

However relations have since broken down anew.