🔗 Share this article Escalating Verbal Conflict Among Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Triggers Anxieties of Conflict Growing worries have emerged over the chance of military engagement between East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational discourse has escalated in the last month. Ethiopia and The Eritrean government were allies in the internal conflict in Tigray but they have later become estranged. What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared? Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated war of words. Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed. Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked. In 1998, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives. Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and implied the wish to take it by force. On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "corrected soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action". Eritrean Response to the Claims In the face of ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head the minister. He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains. Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that attempts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Preparations on the Region Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the both nations. Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases. The leader of staff section of the defense force, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries". Previous Roots of the Tension For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers. Following World War II, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia. But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia. A three-decade long internal conflict followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998. Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads. This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a action that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize. The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region. However relations have since broken down again.