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Growing apprehensions have emerged regarding the potential of warfare involving East African neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Despite persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that attempts to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

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

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The head of staff section of the defense force, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Background of the Conflict

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

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two signed a statement that the war was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

However ties have since broken down anew.