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Increasing concerns have emerged about the possibility of warfare among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a territorial conflict erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to short statements on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry warned on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

There have been no reports of major military movements in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Past Roots of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet relations have later worsened anew.