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Increasing apprehensions have emerged over the chance of warfare involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on X from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

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

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of many recruits at various military training camps.

The leader of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

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

After World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the ruler terminated this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a statement that the conflict was over – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down anew.