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Growing worries are present regarding the potential of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the intention to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on social media from Communications Head the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Border

There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, national TV has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the UK forces before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war followed, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a move that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.