Rising War of Words Between Ethiopia and Eritrea Sparks Concerns of Armed Clash

Increasing concerns have emerged regarding the chance of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which numerous people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry warned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

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

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The director of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Tension

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

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

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle occurred, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a action that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

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

But relations have later worsened anew.