🔗 Share this article Intensifying War of Words Involving Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Triggers Anxieties of Military Confrontation Increasing worries have emerged over the possibility of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks. The Ethiopian government and Eritrea were allies in the civil war in Tigray but they have subsequently disagreed. What Has Ethiopia Stated? Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a fierce war of words. The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected. Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked. Five years later, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives. Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means. Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "through military action". Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G.. He has rejected Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory. Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that efforts to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Activities on the Border Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the neighboring states. Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps. The leader of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries". Previous Background of the Tension For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers. After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British military before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire. But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia. A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993. Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998. Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at in dispute. This changed in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two signed a statement that the conflict was finished – a move that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize. The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in Tigray. But ties have later worsened anew.