🔗 Share this article Escalating War of Words Among Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Sparks Concerns of Military Confrontation Growing worries exist regarding the possibility of armed conflict among Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in recent weeks. The Ethiopian government and Eritrea worked together in the internal conflict in northern Ethiopia but they have subsequently disagreed. What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared? Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense war of words. Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected. Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access. Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which numerous people lost their lives. Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Government Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and suggested the wish to take it by force. In early September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow". Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force". Eritrean Answer to the Statements Amid continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G.. Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory. The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Military Preparations on the Region Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states. Nevertheless, in the country, government media has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities. The director of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents". Previous Roots of the Tension For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers. Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British administration before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire. Yet in the early 1960s the ruler ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia. A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998. Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at in dispute. This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the hostilities was finished – a action that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize. The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region. However ties have later worsened anew.