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Increasing apprehensions exist over the chance of warfare among East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to short statements on X from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on 16 September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

Currently, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has shown training completions of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Although this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the war was concluded – a move that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.