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Increasing worries exist regarding the chance of warfare among East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the intention to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Statements

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that efforts to validate "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 Ground

There have been few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, commented lately in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

Following World War II, it was then administered by the British administration before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The two agreed to a statement that the conflict was finished – a action that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

But ties have subsequently deteriorated again.