Eritrea has hit back at its neighbour Ethiopia, describing accusations that its troops were on Ethiopian territory as 'false'. On Sunday, a letter sent from Ethiopia's foreign minister to his Eritrean counterpart demanded that the soldiers withdraw.
It also accused Eritrea of 'outright aggression', stating that it was conducting joint manoeuvres with Ethiopian rebels in the north and supplying them with weapons. In response, Eritrea claimed this was part of a 'spiral of hostile campaigns against Eritrea for more than two years'.
There has long been a history of tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which split off from its larger neighbour three decades ago, and fears of a renewed conflict are rising. The countries fought a border war between 1998-2000 that left over 100,000 people dead, and a peace deal was never fully implemented.
Relations only began to ease after Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who later won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, travelled to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, in 2018. However, those relations have soured once again as Ethiopia now claims that Eritrea is supporting rebels in Tigray who oppose the peace deal that ended the civil war.
The foreign minister's letter alleged, 'the incursion of Eritrean troops further into Ethiopian territory... and the joint military manoeuvres being carried out by Eritrean forces with rebel groups are not just provocations but acts of outright aggression.'
Ethiopia seeks access to the sea, a point of contention that has persisted since Eritrean independence, which Abiy described as an existential matter. If Eritrea's soldiers withdraw, the two nations could potentially discuss access to the port of Assab.
In response, Eritrea's information ministry labeled the accusations as 'patently false and fabricated,' expressing that the government has no desire to engage in 'meaningless acrimony'. The deteriorating relations continue to impact regional stability.
