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Increasing concerns exist about the possibility of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on 16 September that efforts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

However, in the country, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

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

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a declaration that the war was concluded – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

Yet ties have since broken down anew.