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Growing apprehensions are present regarding the chance of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. Following a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon".

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

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

There have been few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has shown completion events of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the war was over – a action that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have later worsened again.