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Increasing worries have emerged about the potential of warfare between East African neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the desire to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red 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 Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The leader of human resources department of the military, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Background of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle followed, ending with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing hostilities in 1998.

Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a statement that the war 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 Tigray.

But relations have since broken down anew.