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Growing apprehensions exist regarding the chance of warfare involving East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected soon".

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

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The head of staff section of the defense force, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Background of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

Following World War II, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict followed, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, leading to war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the conflict was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have later worsened once more.