🔗 Share this article Rising Rhetorical Battle Among Ethiopian Government and Eritrea Sparks Anxieties of Conflict Increasing apprehensions are present over the potential of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has intensified in recent weeks. Ethiopia and The Eritrean government were allies in the civil war in northern Ethiopia but they have subsequently disagreed. What Has Ethiopian Officials Said? Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a intense war of words. Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his government's sea access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea ignored. Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked. Five years later, a military clash started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives. Latest Comments from Ethiopian Officials Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the desire to seize it militarily. In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed tomorrow". The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action". Eritrean Answer to the Claims Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head Yemane G.. The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking lost territory. Eritrean authorities warned on recently that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Movements on the Ground So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries. Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities. The leader of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies". Previous Roots of the Conflict For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by colonial powers. After World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia. However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state. A extended armed struggle occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993. Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998. Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at odds. This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a announcement that the war was finished – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award. The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in the northern region. However relations have later worsened once more.