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Increasing concerns exist about the chance of warfare among East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a heated war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the intention to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified tomorrow".

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

Eritrean Response to the Statements

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that attempts to justify "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote 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 fell out over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the war was concluded – a move that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet ties have later worsened again.