Rising Rhetorical Battle Between Ethiopian Government and Eritrea Raises Fears of Military Confrontation

Growing worries are present over the possibility of warfare among Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational discourse has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrean southern port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

There have been little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers.

Following World War II, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict ensued, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the war was over – a action that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's recent civil war in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.