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Increasing apprehensions are present about the potential of warfare among East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive language has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which numerous people were killed.

Recent Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the desire to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The head of staff section of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Conflict

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

After World War II, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, causing war in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a action that won Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

However ties have subsequently deteriorated again.