🔗 Share this article Escalating War of Words Among Ethiopia and Eritrean Government Raises Concerns of Conflict Growing concerns are present over the chance of military engagement among East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has escalated in the past few weeks. Ethiopia and The Eritrean government cooperated in the internal conflict in northern Ethiopia but they have subsequently disagreed. What Did Ethiopia Stated? Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a fierce verbal exchange. Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored. Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea. Subsequently, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people were killed. Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Government Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily. Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon". Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force". Eritrean Reaction to the Threats In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head Yemane G.. Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back former lands. Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached". Defense Movements on the Ground There have been little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries. Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed training completions of many recruits at various military training camps. The head of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents". Historical Origins of the Conflict For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers. Following World War II, it was then managed by the British military before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia. However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia. A thirty-year armed struggle ensued, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993. For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998. Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at in dispute. This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award. The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's previous civil war in the northern region. Yet relations have since broken down once more.