🔗 Share this article Rising Verbal Conflict Involving Ethiopian Government and Eritrean Government Raises Concerns of Armed Clash Increasing concerns are present about the potential of warfare involving Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive language has escalated in recent weeks. Ethiopia and Eritrea cooperated in the internal conflict in Tigray but they have since fallen out. What Did Ethiopia Said? Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce war of words. The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected. Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked. Five years later, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed. Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the wish to seize it militarily. On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "using武力". Eritrean Answer to the Statements Despite continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head the minister. Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking former lands. Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Security Activities on the Border Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations. Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases. The leader of personnel division of the military, the officer, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents". Previous Background of the Conflict For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian rulers. Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia. Yet in the early 1960s the ruler ended this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia. A extended internal conflict ensued, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998. Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads. This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a announcement that the war was concluded – a action that won Abiy the prestigious award. The two governments were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region. Yet ties have later worsened anew.