🔗 Share this article Intensifying Rhetorical Battle Between Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Sparks Concerns of Armed Clash Growing concerns have emerged over the potential of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational language has escalated in recent weeks. The Ethiopian government and The Eritrean government worked together in the civil war in Tigray but they have subsequently disagreed. What Did Ethiopia Said? Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words. PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea dismissed. Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it cut off from the sea. Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed. Latest Comments from Ethiopian Officials Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily. Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified soon". The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "usingæ¦åŠ›". Eritrean Answer to the Threats Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on X from Communications Head the minister. The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back lost territory. Government spokespeople alerted on recently that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Military Movements on the Border So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the neighboring states. Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases. The director of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our adversaries". Previous Background of the Tension For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers. Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia. However in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia. A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998. Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at in dispute. This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award. The two governments were then partners in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region. Yet relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.