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

Increasing apprehensions are present regarding the possibility of warfare between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a intense rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Despite ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to concise remarks on X from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back previous domains.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that attempts to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a action that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

Yet ties have since broken down again.